Results 161-180 of 1,110,269 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Peter Burke OR speaker:Damien English OR speaker:Simon Coveney OR speaker:Darren O'Rourke OR speaker:Michael Fitzmaurice OR speaker:Cathal Berry OR speaker:Alan Dillon OR speaker:Niamh Smyth OR speaker:Róisín Shortall OR speaker:Jennifer Whitmore OR speaker:Jackie Cahill OR speaker:Denise Mitchell OR speaker:Michael Lowry OR speaker:Johnny Mythen OR speaker:Éamon Ó Cuív OR speaker:Patricia Ryan OR speaker:Jennifer Murnane O'Connor OR speaker:Catherine Connolly OR speaker:Holly Cairns OR speaker:Imelda Munster OR speaker:Catherine Martin OR speaker:Mattie McGrath OR speaker:Paul Murphy OR speaker:Stephen Donnelly OR speaker:Éamon Ó Cuív5 OR speaker:Ruairi Ó Murchú OR speaker:Éamon Ó Cuív11) in 'Committee meetings'
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)
Róisín Shortall: Okay.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)
Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy for that. I am more than happy to take responsibility, obviously, but in the interest of fairness, when I was appointed, there were approximately 400 beds in UHL. We have added 118. There are 16 more that are going to open this year, 96 more in quarter 2 of next year, another 96 after that - they are under construction - and a further 84. I am more than happy to take...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)
Róisín Shortall: The recommendation was that the other three EDs should not close until we had reached a level beyond 600 beds in UHL. That has been the problem, notwithstanding recent improvements as regards the number of beds. That is a fundamental point. Those three emergency departments should not have been closed. It is quite clear that was the original intention. I have been raising the issue for...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)
Stephen Donnelly: Obviously, I have taken action on it but in fairness, the Deputy's question is why now? It is because we were in the middle of adding the greatest number of-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)
Róisín Shortall: I am sorry; the action was that the Minister would open a second ED. He would designate one of the other hospitals as a level 3 hospital and have an ED.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)
Stephen Donnelly: Yes, that is right, and I have asked the same group, HIQA, to now come back and do a thorough analysis and if that is the case, report back on where it would go and would it be attached-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)
Róisín Shortall: Why did the Minister not act on the recommendation two and a half years ago?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)
Stephen Donnelly: That is exactly the way I was characterising the Deputy's question. It is because two and a half years ago, we were in the middle of a massive expansion of capacity in the mid-west, not just in UHL and the other regional hospitals but in the community. We have opened five primary care centres and a lot more. This time last year, the emergency department situation in UHL was moving in the...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)
Róisín Shortall: It was a separate point that HIQA made, which was that there was a need for a level 3 hospital and a second ED.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)
Stephen Donnelly: I will have-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)
Róisín Shortall: It was not a matter of all of the numbers. There was a separate point that HIQA made. I have to ask the Minister-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)
Róisín Shortall: Can I finish this last point?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)
Róisín Shortall: There is a serious issue of geography here. Does the Minister think it is acceptable that someone in need of medical treatment in, for example, Loop Head in County Clare or in Latteragh in County Tipperary, must not only drive past a hospital, but will also have a greater chance of dying if they have a major medical emergency because UHL is so overstretched and overcrowded? There is a...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)
Stephen Donnelly: There is definitely a distance and geography issue. I spend as much time as I can in west Clare and I know from my time there and talking to people in Ennis hospital that there is real concern at the distance. Deputy Shortall very fairly referred to HIQA. Its view was that the scale of Ennis hospital meant that it could not safely support an emergency department. That is exactly why I...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)
Róisín Shortall: The Minister did promise 24-hour opening-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)
Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Senator. I am expecting a preliminary briefing on the HIQA report in February and the final report will be in May. I applaud the Deputy's question on consultant contracts and 24-7 on-site rostered consultant presence in our hospitals with emergency departments. The new consultant contract doubles the normal rostered times, which was a really important move. Our view was...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)
Stephen Donnelly: We looked at Barrington's hospital but the operational view of the HSE was that the quickest way to do it was to proceed with the identified site rather than trying to split teams between setting up a temporary solution and the permanent facility that we want. On the elective hospitals, I hear loud and clear the people in Limerick loud and clear when they say there is an elective hospital...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)
Stephen Donnelly: I am not ruling anything in or out. I want to meet Aoife's mum and dad and have this conversation with them. When it comes to the responsibilities, however, all of our responsibilities and the responsibility of the HSE to learn patient safety lessons and implement them, we do not need a statutory inquiry for that piece. I know there are really serious and heartfelt questions Aoife's family...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)
Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Senator for that. We are going to get her the beds number. We had some very good news for St. John's. I am just going to find it now. In the new bed plan, we have committed an additional 57 beds to St. John's. I have been in the hospital several times. It has an amazing team that put a very strong case together. The Senator will be aware that 15 beds have been delivered...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)
Stephen Donnelly: There is more here than I can cover. I will give the Senator one or two highlights, if I may. The day unit in UHL has been a big focus with regard to cancer care infrastructure. UHL has prepared and submitted a capital project proposal to move the administrative and clerical meeting spaces to a separate building and to convert those spaces to clinical spaces to increase capacity. That is...