asked the Minister for Health if, in view of the fact that Tallaght, County Dublin, will not be provided with a hospital until 1992, he will consider providing a 24-hour accident centre there as an interim measure.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Tallaght (County Dublin) Hospital Services.
14.
The provision of an accident centre of the type suggested by the Deputy would require back-up services which are only available in an acute hospital setting. It would not, therefore, be feasible to establish such a centre in Tallaght pending the provision of the new hospital there.
The Minister has not given a satisfactory reply. Is he aware of the enormous problems in this new city of 75,000 people due to the lack of private and public telephones? Indeed, public telephones are now being withdrawn from the area and there is great difficulty in contacting ambulances in emergencies. Is the Minister satisfied that he is fulfilling his responsibility to Tallaght over the next seven years until a hospital is provided?
The Government intend to go ahead as quickly as possible with the construction of the new hospital in Tallaght as one of the six major general hospitals serving the Dublin area. The architectural competition has been completed in relation to the construction of the hospital and the planning board have been doing excellent work. The results of the architectural competition will be known in July or August of this year and I hope to see the first phase of this hospital built within a few years. Meanwhile, emergency accident provision for the area will have to be dealt with by the rota of other Dublin hospitals such as Saint James's or the Children's Hospital in relation to accidents involving children. The new hospital will be a very big facility, it will have 450 beds and will take a number of years to build and be fully operational.
Without going into the whole complexity of major and complex operation rooms and all the detailed facilities which I accept are part of the panoply of a major hospital, I should like the Minister to look into the question of providing at least a basic first aid facility there which could conceivably save lives. Simple medical procedures could be carried out on the spot although it would not cater for badly injured or seriously ill people.
I am anxious to provide, as quickly as possible, temporary out-patient facilities at Tallaght. These would be provided by the Meath, Adelaide and the National Children's Hospital liaison committee. A casualty out-patient facility is an impossibility because if a person comes in with a suspected broken finger, basic radiology facilities would have to be provided to carry out an X-ray and that would mean providing a consultant also. Otherwise, you would be providing a GP service only which would not be satisfactory. A casualty unit would have to be staffed 24 hours a day which would involve employing nurses and so on. Inevitably, we would also have to provide an ambulance for moving people to other hospitals in the event of a serious accident. I do not think the proposition is feasible.
I am sure the Minister is aware of the rapidity with which the population is growing in Tallaght. There will be 100,000 people there by the time the new hospital is scheduled to be completed in 1992. The Minister said he hoped to speed up the building of the hospital. Could he say when he expects the first stage of the hospital to be completed and if it will be in a shorter period than seven years assuming that the first stage will be able to provide a temporary accident centre?
The architectural competition results will be out in July or August and it will take at least three years to have the hospital under way. One cannot spend something in the region of £70 million without a time span of three years. The hospital board were appointed in 1981 to plan, build, equip and commission the hospital and it took a couple of years to get the agreement of the planning brief for the hospital. However, as the Deputy knows, it takes three or four years to build a hospital.
15.
asked the Minister for Health if he has received any approaches from the Adelaide Hospital, Dublin, to provide an out-patient department hospital service in Tallaght hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
A comprehensive out-patient department is being planned as part of the proposed new hospital for Tallaght.
In the meanwhile, discussions have been taking place regarding the provision of an out-patient service in Tallaght pending the provision of the hospital.
These discussions have been going on for a long time and they should now be finalised. The outpatients' facility should now be provided especially as the Adelaide Hospital is not only willing but anxious to provide this service in Tallaght. What has been the delay in making this available and can he say when we will have this facility in Tallaght which is so sorely needed?
My Department and the Eastern Health Board have now received very detailed proposals regarding the specialist clinics to be provided in the Tallaght area in paediatric medicines, paediatric orthopaedics, paediatric surgery, medicine cardiology orthopaedics, urology, surgery, gynaecology, dermatology and psychiatry. All the sessions are agreed now and the staffing is proposed. One of the conditions laid down by the hospital is that there should be no transfer of resources from the existing hospitals to Tallaght. That matter has to be resolved, but I am very hopeful that a very early decision will be made on setting up the service. The site for the new hospital should be in my possession very soon. I can assure the Deputy that I will not delay on this matter and that neither are the Eastern Health Board delaying it. They have been very much involved in this whole question.
At what location will the out-patient facility be provided and on what date approximately may we expect the service to be in operation?
There is a difficulty in that regard because if a temporary outpatients' unit is built in advance of the main hospital the work of the clinics would be hampered by a major building programme being in progress around them. The Eastern Health Board, who are involved in discussions with the hospitals concerned, have identified a possible site in the centre of the old village of Tallaght and that possibility is being pursued. I have a comprehensive brief in regard to the approximate date of operation but I will communicate with the Deputy on that matter. I assure him there will be no undue delay so far as I am concerned.
Will the Minister please bear in mind the extreme urgency in this case, the pressing need for the clinic?
I will bear that in mind and I can tell the Deputy that the Meath, Adelaide and the National Children's Hospitals are all extremely anxious to move to Tallaght as quickly as possible.