I am pleased with the opportunity afforded to me this evening by Deputy Connaughton to address the House on the issues raised concerning a patient admitted to Roscommon County Hospital on 16 March 1999.
As the Deputy will be aware, the provision of services at Roscommon County Hospital is a matter for the Western Health Board in the first instance. Notwithstanding this, I advise the House that I am personally familiar with the case raised by the Deputy, having spoken to a family member of the person in question on Monday last, 22 March. Following my conversation with that family member, I subsequently personally took up the case with the chief executive officer of the Western Health Board. I understand a full investigation into the circumstances of the case has now been initiated and the board has arranged to meet with the family involved as part of this process.
While it would not be appropriate for me to comment on the detail of the specific case, I want to address the House on some of the related issues that arise. Roscommon County Hospital will treat more than 5,000 patients on an in-patient and day case basis this year. In addition, it will see more than 14,000 patients in accident and emergency and a similar number of patients will receive treatment at out-patient level. The Deputy will appreciate that while these planned levels of activity will be scheduled to benefit patients to the greatest extent possible, the unpredictable nature of the work of the accident and emergency department of a hospital is such that on occasion, at times of particular pressure, delays do inevitably occur. However, at all times it is the strict policy of all hospitals that priority is accorded to those patients most in need of immediate medical attention.
Roscommon County Hospital provides a high quality service to the people of its catchment area and plays a major role in the provision of health services in the western region. Recognition and appreciation of the contribution of the hospital to the quality of life people in the Roscommon area is evidenced in the strong displays of loyalty to the hospital which we have seen over the years.
Since my appointment as Minister for Health and Children, I have invested heavily in developing that role, in recognition of the major contribution which the hospital makes and the strong will of the people locally to have that developed and strengthened. In December of last year, I formally opened new surgical facilities and a psychiatric day unit at the hospital at an overall cost of £650,000. The surgical development involved the renovation and extension of St Brigid's in-patient ward and the provision of a new physiotherapy area to provide improved standards of accommodation and lead to enhanced patient satisfaction. A new dedicated day surgery area, with five beds, reception, treatment and recovery facilities, was also provided to allow for an increased throughput of surgical patients in the hospital and to ensure services can be developed in a manner most appropriate to needs. New private accommodation was also provided to assist the hospital to maximise its income to the benefit of both public and private patients.
In another major step in the overall development of the hospital, a second consultant surgeon has taken up duty since January, following my decision to increase the hospital's revenue base for this purpose.
The net effect for the people of Roscommon and the other areas mentioned by Deputy Connaughton of these developments is to provide improved access to a better service. This is very important in terms of what I am trying to achieve for the hospital services overall, that is, to provide people with services in their own region that respond efficiently, effectively and appropriately to their needs. Taken with the major development at Unversity College Hospital Galway and Mayo General Hospital, as well as the construction works under way at Portiuncula Hospital, the improvement of services at Roscommon are an essential part of the realisation of my strategy for hospital services in the west.
I know that further developmental needs remain at Roscommon County Hospital and I am determined to address these in a structured manner. Work is now under way on the preparation of an outline development control plan for the hospital which will set the overall footprint for all future developments, ensuring that they can proceed in a manner consistent with the board's long-term development strategy for the hospital which involves the integration of community and elderly services on site there. I have already given a public commitment that the development of the hospital's accident and emergency department will take priority in that context.
In outlining these measures for the enhancement of services at the hospital, it is not my intention to dismiss the unsatisfactory experience of any one patient there. Whatever the circumstances of the case, it is my primary concern as Minister to ensure that every individual who presents for hospital treatment is dealt with in an appropriate and satisfactory manner and it is because of that concern that I personally raised this case with the health board.
It is important, however, to set that in the context of the overall service being provided at Roscommon County Hospital and the very real efforts that are being made by this Government to address its development needs as part of a wider strategy for the development of acute hospital services on a regionally self-sufficient basis. That strategy is being underpinned by unprecedented levels of new investment by this Government in the acute hospital sector – £71 million for specific service developments this year, an overall health expenditure increase of 28 per cent in revenue funding and 43 per cent in capital funding since the Government took office.
I appreciate that cold figures mean little to individuals whose hospital experience, for whatever reason, is less than fully satisfactory. They do, however, illustrate the commitment the Government is giving to developing health systems, bulding on its very many existing strengths to make it, where possible, more responsive to needs and better placed to deliver the kind of service people expect and are entitled to receive.
An investigation into the case described by Deputy Connaughton is taking place. On behalf of everyone concerned at Roscommon County Hospital, I apologise and regret that any patient should have had the experience the lady in question had. I am anxious that we learn from experience. I am sure the family in question would like us to learn lessons and try to make sure that such an incident does not occur again.
