Vol. 348 No. 2
asked the Minister for Health if he will instruct the Midland Health Board to advertise for a second obstetrician/gynaecologist to Tullamore General Hospital as a matter of extreme urgency and the chief executive officer to appoint a second obstetrician/ gynaecologist in a temporary capacity, pending a permanent appointment being made.
4.
asked the Minister for Health if he is aware of the widespread demand in County Offaly for the appointment of a second permanent obstetrician/gynaecologist to Tullamore General Hospital; and, if so, when he intends to make this appointment.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 3 and 4 together.
I am aware that there is some disquiet locally about the maternity service at the General Hospital, Tullamore, and I know that many people feel that the appointment of a second consultant obstetrician/gynaecologist is the answer to the problem. However, in the current difficult budgetary situation the appointment of additional consultants poses many difficulties and I am convinced that there is a greater need in the midland area for consultant paediatricians rather than obstetricians if it should prove possible to make additional appointments.
The problem at Tullamore is currently being examined by officers of my Department and officials from the health board and I am hopeful that the matter will be resolved soon.
Is the Minister aware that maternity patients are being brought to the general hospital in Tullamore and that when there is no obstetrician/gynaecologist available they are put back into the ambulances and transferred to Portlaoise; that immediately after a normal birth they are put back into the ambulances and taken back to the Tullamore hospital? Does he regard that as a satisfactory arrangement?
I am not satisfied with the situation in Tullamore. I have reviewed it in detail. As Deputies are aware, the consultant obstetrician/ gynacologist in Tullamore has been successfull in his application for a vacant post in Wexford. The health board have had some difficulty in ensuring locum cover for the consultant. It is not entirely the fault of the health board, but they are confident that when the replacement will take up duty difficulties in Tullamore will be resolved.
Did the Minister say the present gynaecologist is leaving?
The Minister expressed the hope that the matter will be resolved. I hope he was referring to the position of obstetrician/gynaecologist. I am pleased the Minister has stated publicly he is not satisfied with the position there. In view of that, will the Minister ensure that a second appointment will be made? It has been pointed out that when the permanent consultant at the moment is on leave, for a weekend or on holidays, there is the unsatisfactory situation that patients have to be transferred to other hospitals.
The Deputy is making a Second Stage speech.
Speeches are not in order.
They are, in the by-election.
If Deputies Molloy and Connolly have any interest in what we are discussing they should give me an opportunity to ask a question. Because of the existing position, expectant mothers will not go to the Tullamore consultant — they go to other hospitals in which there is adequate cover. Will the Minister say what definite plans he has to make this appointment? In view of the fact that the ancillary services are available in Tullamore the only appointment that is necessary is of a second permanent surgeon.
I am no more convinced than was my predecessor that there should be a second consultant appointed directly to Tullamore. I am doing my utmost, and I think I will be successful, to have a paediatrician appointed there in the near future. What Tullamore and Portlaoise and Mullingar need more than anything else is a paediatrician. Such a consultant works in a private hospital in Mullingar.
I was not aware that the obstetrician/gynaecologist was departing from the general hospital in Tullamore. In view of that, has the Minister directed the Midlands Health Board to advertise immediately for a successor? There is a doubt in Offaly in regard to the future of the maternity unit in Tullamore.
There is no question of a doubt there. Denis Doherty, the CEO, is an outstanding executive. He has the matter well in hand. He is concerned about the lack of locum cover in Tullamore. There was no consultant cover and as a consequence, in the interests of the safety of mothers and babies, he had to direct that all deliveries should be transferred to Portlaoise when the Tullamore consultant was away. The matter is now being resolved and full maternity services will be resumed in Tullamore.
I have asked the Minister if the CEO has advertised.
The Minister referred to local disquiet about failure to make a second permanent appointment. He spoke about a paediatrician and I can assure him that the people of Offaly and I agree that such an appointment is necessary. Irrespective of the views of the CEO, is the Minister satisfied that expectant mothers are put into ambulances, brought on a 20 to 30 mile journey in the worst of weather to deliver their babies and are put back into an ambulance and brought back within five hours? Are the Minister and the CEO satisfied with that?
I told the Deputies as clearly as I could that I am not satisfied with the continuation of present arrangements. I said the matter has been kept under very close review. It will be resolved. When the replacement has been appointed, as all good consultants do I am sure he will arrange adequate locum cover.
Two questions are being taken together. In the confusion over there, the Minister may not have heard me asking if the CEO has informed the Minister that he will place an advertisement forthwith for a replacement?
I will write to the Deputy on the matter. I understand it is well in hand.
I want a definite answer. Has the Minister put it in train? I was not aware that the present obstetrician-gynaecologist was departing. We know how slow the Local Appointments Commission are in finalising appointments. If he leaves within a couple of weeks, is the Minister aware that there will be no obstetrician-gynaecologist cover in Tullamore and, whether the Minister likes it or not——
This is argument. I am asking the Minister to reply to that question. I will then ask Deputy Enright to put a question and I will move on to the next question.
The Deputy need have no fear about the matter. He can reassure all the mothers in Tullamore and in Offaly that they are in the good hands of the Deputy and the Department.
Not at the moment.
They are.
Is the Minister aware that there has been a decline in the number of births in the General Hospital in Tullamore due to the fact that there has not been a second permanent obstetrician-gynaecologist in the hospital? Mothers are not happy to attend at a hospital where there is cover at certain times only and then at weekends and on holidays they are transferred to other hospitals. In view of the necessity to provide proper treatment for expectant mothers in one hospital——
This is a speech. The Deputy is making a case and that is not permissible at Question Time.
Is the Minister aware that there has been a decline in the number of births in the hospital? As well as replacing the present obstetrician-gynaecologist will the Minister ensure that a second appointment is made forthwith?
There is no need for a second appointment in Tullamore.
There is, and there is no doubt about that.
We have no intention of making a second appointment any more than Deputy Woods had.
Because Deputy Woods was wrong does not mean that the Minister should be wrong.
One final question.
Will the Minister write to the CEO to make the appointment immediately? Will he write to him this afternoon and tell him to place the advertisement in the papers as soon as possible?
The Minister will now answer Question No. 5.
With your permission I intend to raise this matter on the Adjournment.
The Chair will communicate with Deputy Connolly.
I should like the Chair to communicate with me because I would also like to raise it on the Adjournment.
The Chair will communicate with Deputy Enright.
