Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 26 May 1999

Vol. 505 No. 4

Adjournment Debate. Fire Brigade Service. - Hospital Services.

Mr. Sheehan

I thank you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, for giving me the opportunity to raise with the Minister for Health and Children an important matter concerning the future of the surgical wing of Bantry General Hospital. Is it true that the future of surgical services in the hospital might be in danger? Will the Minister of State give a categorical assurance to the House tonight that surgical services will continue in Bantry General Hospital because rumours to the contrary have been circulating?

Will the Minister of State explain why a second surgeon's position has been left vacant for the past 12 years since the former surgeon, Mr. Baker, retired 12 years ago? Will he explain why a second anaesthetist position in the hospital has been left vacant for the same 12 year period?

Comhairle na n-Ospidéal has a recognised policy that all surgical hospitals should have the services of two surgeons and two anaesthetists. Will the Minister of State explain the reason the two positions in Bantry General Hospital have not been filled? Will he, in his capacity as Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, authorise that those two vacant positions be filled as soon as possible?

I need not remind the Minister of State, Deputy Moffatt, of the importance of Bantry General Hospital to the vast hinterland of west Cork and south Kerry, embracing a sprawling area from Courtmacsherry to Waterville in Kerry. The Minister of State visited the constituency as late as last week and he is familiar with the vast terrain that makes up south west Cork and south Kerry. It is of paramount importance that the Minister of State gives me a categorical assurance tonight that the surgical services in Bantry General Hospital will continue and that the two vacant positions will be filled. I urge the Minister of State to put on the record that he will take immediate steps to fill those two positions, thereby securing the surgical department of this hospital.

I do not want Bantry General Hospital downgraded to a geriatric hospital. The area is so vast that patients could die in transit to the University Hospital in Cork. Parts of my constituency in the Beara Peninsula are 125 miles from Cork city. The Mizen Head peninsula is almost 100 miles from Cork city, and then there is the Muntervary peninsula.

It is of paramount importance that the surgical wing in Bantry General Hospital is retained. I urge the Minister of State to give me that assurance tonight.

Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Dr. Moffatt)

I am pleased to have the opportunity afforded to me this evening by Deputy Sheehan to address the House on the issue of provision of surgical services at Bantry Hospital and to reassert Minister Cowen's commitment to the continued provision of services at Bantry.

As the Deputy will be aware, Bantry General Hospital plays an important part in the provision of hospital services to the people of west Cork. The hospital has a total bed complement of 92, which includes 68 beds with surgical, medical, intensive care, geriatric and respite facilities, and 24 long-stay beds.

The provision of services at the hospital is the statutory responsibility of the Southern Health Board. In line with the obligations this entails, the Southern Health Board has undertaken an assessment of services at Bantry General Hospital to ensure the services continue to meet the needs of the people served by the hospital.

Following this assessment, the board established a working group to prepare a plan setting out the various options for the future development of services at Bantry General Hospital, including surgical services. This process is under way in consultation with a wide range of interested parties such as consultant staff and general practitioners. The board is confident this review will further enhance the services already provided at Bantry General Hospital and make them more responsive to the needs of the area.

There are no proposals to discontinue surgical services at Bantry General Hospital. I hope that is reassuring to the Deputy. The future role of surgery will be explored in the context of the plan being prepared by the Southern Health Board. The work currently in hand on the preparation of a plan for the development of services at the hospital clearly demonstrates the commitment to the future role of the hospital in the provision of services to the people of west Cork, and the Minister looks forward to the outcome of the process.

I assure the Deputy that Minister Cowen's commitment to the development of services in the Southern Health Board area includes those at Bantry General Hospital. I am confident that Bantry General Hospital will continue to play a full and active role in the provision of services in that area.

Mr. Sheehan

Will the two vacancies be filled?