John Dennehy
Question:220 Mr. Dennehy asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will make additional resources available for the dialysis unit at Cork University Hospital. [12752/99]
Written Answers. - Hospital Services.
The provision of hospital services in this instance is the statutory responsibility of the Southern Health Board and it is a matter for the board to decide its priorities regarding its particular needs.
Recent developments in the dialysis unit at the hospital include the expansion of CAPD, continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis, service allowing more patients to be dialysed at home, funding for a specialist nurse to provide counselling for renal patients and full replacement of the hospital's dialysis equipment. These developments will lead to significant improvements in the service to dialysis patients.
My Department has just recently received a proposal from the Southern Health Board regarding the expansion of the dialysis unit and the proposal is currently under examination within the Department. My Department is currently undertaking a review of renal dialysis service requirements nationally, in consultation with service providers and user groups, in the context of the preparation of Estimates for 2000.
Cecilia Keaveney
Question:222 Cecilia Keaveney asked the Minister for Health and Children his views on the rights of patients from rural Ireland to have appointments in Dublin hospitals scheduled at hours which reflect their distance from the capital in view of the fact that many patients are being called from extreme ends of the country for 9 a.m. appointments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12770/99]
The Deputy will be aware that a Charter of Rights for Hospital Patients was introduced in August 1992. It provides guidelines for good standards of practice in acute hospitals. Although the charter has no statutory basis, its objective is to ensure that the health service becomes more responsive to the needs of the individual patient and that there is a code of practice available which sets out what patients have a right to expect when they make use of hospital services.
On the specific issue of the scheduling of appointments, section 2 of the charter states that:
You have the right, when your family doctor refers you to hospital for an out-patient appointment, to receive confirmation within a reasonable time of the date of your first appointment; be given an individual appointment time; be seen by a consultant or senior doctor on your first appointment. You have the right, should your appointment at an out-patient department be cancelled by the hospital, to receive adequate and timely notice of such cancellation and to be given a new appointment on a priority basis.
In this regard, my Department has recently asked all acute hospitals to indicate if they are allocating out-patient appointment times in accordance with the standards specified in the charter. I would expect that the question of allocating more suitable appointment times for patients who have to travel a distance will be looked at as part of their review.
As Minister for Health and Children, I am very concerned about the issue of equity of access for patients. Therefore, I would like to draw the Deputy's attention to an example of my Department's efforts in this area. The national cancer strategy places particular emphasis on reducing regional imbalances and, since taking office, I have made £19.5 million available under the strategy. The extra resources are being used for additional cancer treatment services, both in terms of staff and facilities, so that patients can, as much as possible, be treated within their own region.
The development of mechanisms for improvements in patient advocacy is an important task for my Department and, in this regard, my objective is to provide a patient focused service, within which the priority must be equity of access to high quality of care, based on clinical need. The patients' charter was an important step in developing awareness of patients' rights and I intend to develop a comprehensive policy which will build on the good standards of practice which the charter provides.