Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Cathaoirleach for allowing me to raise this important matter. I am delighted the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food, Deputy Treacy, who comes from the west, is present. I hope he bears good news and will be sympathetic towards the cause of Mayo General Hospital as he has many friends in the county.

This issue dates back to 1994 when the people of County Mayo took to the streets to protest about the level of service being provided in Mayo General Hospital, or Castlebar County Hospital as it was then known. They did so to get additional facilities and a better service for the people of the county. In 1996, my colleague from Castlebar and current leader of the Fine Gael Party, Deputy Kenny, and I attended a meeting with the then Minister for Health, Deputy Noonan, at which he gave us a commitment that the Castlebar hospital would be included in the multi-annual financing for the Mayo General Hospital. This has been the position since and the hospital has developed into a state-of-the-art facility in many respects.

The people of County Mayo are very disappointed that the proposed opening of an orthopaedic unit on 1 July has been abandoned. The Minister of State will be aware of the county's size and population and the amount of work carried out by Mayo General Hospital. No reason was given for this retrograde step by the health board but I believe the forthcoming second Hanly report played a part in the decision.

The current position is that the orthopaedic unit is fully built and furnished. It has the largest ultra clean air operating theatre in the country and all equipment with a lead time of more than four weeks has been ordered at a cost in excess of €500,000. The budget for 2003 and 2004 was €3.9 million and more than €10 million has been spent on the unit to date. The only reason preventing the unit from opening as scheduled on 1 July is the failure to issue contracts to 68 nurses, physiotherapists, radiographers, porters, secretaries etc. The staff concerned have already been interviewed and selected and approval was sought and received from the chief executive officer of the Western Health Board at each stage of the recruitment process. She gave permission for the process to start, advertisements to be placed, interviews to take place and then for selected candidates to be notified of their success at interview but will not now issue the contracts to the successful candidates without receiving formal approval from the Department of Health and Children. Successful candidates have already been told to give notice to their current employers, a consultant surgeon has been employed and two full surgical teams are under contract to start work from 1 July and are, therefore, being paid.

The credibility of Mayo General Hospital and the Western Health Board is at stake. What credibility does the board have when it appoints, and in some cases pays, surgical teams for a unit that is not yet operating? The consultant appointed has been paid from January this year, yet we are told the proposed opening has been shelved.

It is even more of an outrage that people seeking orthopaedic services in Mayo General Hospital are being told they will be placed on a waiting list for treatment in Galway. This is a lie as they are not being placed on a list and will never be called to Galway. If the people of Mayo lose the orthopaedic unit in their general hospital, they will never get it back because no consultant will have the confidence to take a post in the county under the Western Health Board. The complicated procedure of recruiting 68 staff from all professions has also been completed. Where does this leave the orthopaedic unit in the Mayo General Hospital?

I am very disappointed. The people took to the streets in 1994 and I have no doubt they will do so again on this serious issue. It is a scandal that people are being told lies by the Western Health Board and an outrageous waste of money to build a state-of-the-art facility, employ people to work in it and then shelve the project.

I hope the Minister of State will have good news for me. I am disappointed and believe the people of the county will share my disappointment that the Minister for Health and Children, who is canvassing in Castlebar, will not visit the orthopaedic unit at Mayo General Hospital.

Noel Treacy (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister for Health and Children is out of the country. Rapid transport could get him to Castlebar but I do not believe that is the case.

On his behalf, I am glad of the opportunity afforded by the Senator to discuss Mayo General Hospital. I refer initially to the unprecedented investment in services at the hospital over the past number of years. The Government has invested heavily in the infrastructure at the hospital. The second phase of a major development programme at the hospital began in 1998. The investment in this development which was completed within the last year was €50 million. This provided the necessary facilities for the development of orthopaedic services at the hospital, including ward accommodation and a state-of-the-art orthopaedic operating theatre to carry out surgery. This development also included a new accident and emergency department, a medical assessment unit, a geriatric assessment unit, an obstetric and delivery suite, CT scanning facilities, a new helicopter landing facility, an improved mortuary and post mortem room, a new information technology system and a new administration and medical records department.

I refer to the Government's record in developing hospital services for the people of Mayo. Annual funding for Mayo General Hospital is more than €50 million. The Government has increased expenditure at the hospital by €30 million since 1997. The hospital employs approximately 830 whole time equivalent staff. This represents an increase in staffing levels at the hospital of more than 300 whole time equivalent staff in the past seven years. The extra staff provide additional and improved hospital services to the people of Mayo.

Activity at the hospital has increased year on year. The hospital's in-patient and day case activity for 2003 was more than 22,000 patients. By comparison to its activity in 1997, the hospital has increased its in-patient activity by more than 3,000 people and has almost trebled the number of patients it treats as day cases. A total of 27,000 people attended its casualty department in 2003. The hospital's out-patient department treats more than 33,000 people per annum. There has been an increase in the number of beds at the hospital over the past number of years. The number of beds at the hospital when the orthopaedic service opens will be more than 300.

The new 33 bed orthopaedic unit will be a particularly valuable addition to the hospital and of great benefit to the people of County Mayo. Funding of €3.9 million has been provided to the Western Health Board for the opening of the new orthopaedic service at Mayo General Hospital. One consultant orthopaedic surgeon has been recruited by the health board and that person took up duty on 1 February 2004. The health board has informed the Minister that discussions between the orthopaedic staff in Galway and Mayo are continuing in an effort to configure the best use of the facilities at Galway and Mayo. These discussions are taking place within a framework to develop an overall integrated strategic and operational policy for orthopaedic services in the region.

Substantial funding has been provided to commission orthopaedic services at Mayo. The health board is in discussion with the Department about commencing orthopaedic services at Mayo General Hospital, particularly in regard to the effect the additional staffing required to commence services will have on the board's current employment ceiling. The Minister is committed to ensuring the new orthopaedic services are established at Mayo General at the earliest possible date.

The Minister established the acute hospitals review group, which has been described informally by some as "Hanly II", in January last and has asked the group to develop a national hospitals plan taking account of the Hanly report, published last October, including spatial and geographic considerations. The Minister believes the group has an extremely important task to perform in mapping out the future role and function of acute hospitals throughout the country. Unfortunately, the group has not been able to meet and formally commence its work because of continuing industrial action by the Irish Hospital Consultants' Association. The industrial action includes non-participation in work relating to the Hanly report. The Minister has repeatedly asked the IHCA to suspend its action but it has not responded positively to date.

I assure the House that the full commissioning of the orthopaedic service at Mayo General Hospital is not being delayed pending the report of the acute hospital review group, Hanly II.