I am grateful for the opportunity to raise this issue. I started a campaign for an orthopaedic unit in Mayo ten years ago. As a general practitioner, I saw the terrible hardship inflicted on elderly people and children who had to make the long and hazardous journey to Galway for orthopaedic services. Breaking a hip can be a life threatening experience for an older person and many have died and will continue to die because the distance from a place like Blacksod in Mayo to the orthopaedic unit in Galway is the same as it from Dublin. How would Dubliners like to go from Dublin to Galway if they had an orthopaedic problem? They would not like it one bit.
Since 2001, a 33 bed ward with sheets on the beds and a brand new operating theatre has been lying idle in Mayo. It is a terrible situation given that the unit cost €10.5 million to build and €3.9 million has been made available since last year to run it. It was supposed to open on 1 July for elective orthopaedic work but cannot because of the Government limit on the recruitment of staff. I ask the Minister for Health and Children to confirm the go ahead the CEO of the Western Health Board was given by his Department for the recruitment of 68 staff for this unit. Does he intend to give the sanction for the issuing of employment contracts for those staff, many of whom have given notice to their previous employers due to the offer of a job from the Western Health Board?
Throughout the State, €400 million of essential medical infrastructure lies unused. This infrastructure received capital funding under the NDC but was held up because the real Minister for Health and Children, Deputy McCreevy, will not give the money needed to run it or lift the embargo on hiring staff.
In the case of Mayo orthopaedic unit, the set up process is under way and Mayo people, young and old, are waiting for orthopaedic treatment. They have not had a service since January because the four Galway surgeons pulled out then, even though they knew well the service would not start until 1 July.
Mayo is different because people already have employment contracts. A permanent orthopaedic surgeon has been hired for this special unit since 2 February. He has not had any opportunity to carry out surgery, although 1,500 people have been waiting since 2000 and have been in limbo since January because there are no elective or operative facilities for them. This is health apartheid of the highest order. If they had money they would be seen very quickly. If I send a letter to Galway it is returned and the patient joins the 1,500 people already waiting since 2000. However, if they have money they will be seen within days by the four permanent consultants. That is not right. The NDC is no good either because those people have never been seen by a consultant, even though they have been waiting since 2000.
The new orthopaedic surgeon was hired on 2 February. A locum orthopaedic surgeon was also hired to start on 1 July. That man is on his way back to India. Having signed a contract, he expected to start in Castlebar on 1 July, but there is no job. Six house officers, an orthopaedic surgeon and a registrar in orthopaedics have been hired and contracted to start work on 1 July. However, there are no jobs for them, and they cannot get another job at this stage; it is too late. A total of 86 people responded to advertisements in respect of the Mayo orthopaedic unit. They have been interviewed. They have received letters of offer from the Western Health Board subject to Garda clearance, but they have no contracts. They have already given notice to their employers and have burnt their bridges. What can they do now? They are taking legal advice.
If this unit does not open on 1 July 2004, it may never open. It will cost much more in legal claims for lost employment opportunity. It will be a black area, because nobody will touch it.
Last night the Minister said he was committed to ensuring that the new orthopaedic unit services were established at Mayo General Hospital at the earliest possible date. It makes my blood run cold when I hear the discussions between orthopaedic staff at Galway are continuing. They did not want that unit in the first place. They do not want it now. They want to absorb Mayo altogether.
The anger is palpable in Mayo. There is no hope that Fianna Fáil or the PDs will get a vote in Mayo. The people will be marching. There will be demonstrations. I have said I will lead them wherever I must because the people are fed up. They will not accept any more of this. The people who are responsible will have to pay, and they will pay dearly. The people in Mayo matter too. The 1,500 people, young and old, on the waiting list matter as well.
