James Lawless
Question:63. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Health the additional support that is being provided for National Orthopaedic Hospital Cappagh children's ward in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7903/22]
Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions
Hospital Services
My question is in regard to Cappagh hospital. The Minister and I have discussed this issue previously so I know that he is familiar with the situation with regard to children with spina bifida and the waiting lists, in particular at Cappagh hospital.
I ask the Minister to tell the House what is being done in that regard.
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. The National Orthopaedic Hospital Cappagh is Ireland's major centre for elective orthopaedic surgery and through the wonderful Cappagh Kids initiative, the national orthopaedic hospital provides additional capacity for the treatment of some of the more routine paediatric orthopaedic patients, including some routine scoliosis procedures. Using the capacity provided by Cappagh first and foremost means children are treated there, but it also means that Children's Health Ireland, CHI, is freeing up space so that the more complex orthopaedic procedures, including spinal fusion, can be carried out centrally at the CHI sites. Total funding of €1.65 million was provided to Cappagh last year. Funding for this year will be encompassed within the waiting list action plan. Cappagh estimates it can do approximately 640 non-complex surgeries and can treat another 340 inpatient and day cases. There is an awful lot of opportunity there.
Additional theatre capacity in Cappagh commenced in April last year for day case surgery. CHI has advised that this should result in the positive impact of a reduction in the waiting times for general paediatric orthopaedics which, quite frankly, are too long. This year, CHI is planning to undertake a range of inpatient, day case and outpatient orthopaedic appointments in Cappagh. Last week, I convened a meeting with the clinical teams from Crumlin, Temple Street and Cappagh, along with senior management from the three hospitals and the HSE. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss this draft paediatric orthopaedic waiting list plan to make sure it is sufficiently ambitious and that it does what we all need it to do, which is to provide care to these children who have been waiting for too long.
I thank the Minister for his reply. I am aware that some funding has been channelled towards Cappagh and CHI in recent times. The families of children in this situation have been in touch with me, as I am sure they have been with the Minister and many others in this House. Their number one priority is to change the situation being faced by children who are waiting in some cases up to four years for surgery. The condition is sometimes by then inoperable because the child's condition has worsened to such an extent. The parents want this issue tackled. The view, certainly among the families, is that Cappagh is the place where these surgeries should be performed. It is the place that needs the funding and attention. I know there has been talk about money going to CHI. I am not sure whether that would filter through from CHI to Cappagh or how that would work in practice.
The other point that has been made to me is that there is sometimes competition for places in an operating surgery or theatre. Children coming in with complex needs, including spina bifida, scoliosis and other conditions, can find, particularly in an elective context, that another child has an accident or something happens in a game of rugby or whatever else and that child is rushed in. An operation on a child with spina bifida could take six, seven or eight hours while another surgery could be performed in one hour. Eight children could be seen in the same time it takes to treat one child with spina bifida and the children with spina bifida are knocked out again and again. They do not necessarily go to the back of the queue but they certainly do not get seen. The view of the families is that they need a dedicated facility to perform these procedures and operations. Can that be done in Cappagh? Does this money allow that? Perhaps the Minister would clarify that point for the House.
I thank the Deputy. The solution for the children is to use all the hospitals. There is no one hospital. Not one of Cappagh, Crumlin and Temple Street can do this on its own. That is why I convened a meeting of all three hospitals last week. There is also work we can do with Blackrock Clinic. We had a meeting earlier today at which the Beacon was also referenced. The three main hospitals are Crumlin, Temple Street and Cappagh, which is already doing phenomenal work. I was out at Cappagh Kids on Friday and saw the facility, which is fantastic. As the Deputy said, the great advantage of Cappagh is that it is an elective hospital.
What is happening in Crumlin and Temple Street, for example? In one of them, there is a lot of urgent neurosurgery required. There is a lot of urgent heart surgery required in the other. The surgeons and children must get emergency access to these theatres and the orthopaedics can get bumped. I am determined that all these children will get the care they need. It is a multi-hospital solution.
Another point that has been made to me, and I think the Minister was alluding to it, relates to wraparound services. For example, one child in my constituency has had an operation but needs to see a urologist next. There are a number of other supporting services that are desperately required to address that child's ongoing needs. That has been a difficulty.
I am trying to understand how the constituent parts of the hospital system, including Cappagh, the CHI, the Beacon, as the Minister mentioned, and other places, can come together to provide that holistic care in a way that tackles the waiting lists and allows children to be seen and accommodated without having to wait four years or until a time their condition is inoperable. We must also provide the follow-on services that are required post operation so they can be seen in a timely fashion and in a way they are not competing with children with less complex needs, which is the case at times now.
There was talk in the Chamber last week of €5 million funding for Cappagh and money that has gone to CHI. There is a little bit of complexity or confusion about exactly what funding has gone where. It would be of great assistance to the families and the House if the Minister would clarify that. What funding is flowing to Cappagh, CHI and elsewhere? What is that money ring-fenced for? How will that assist the children in the short term and the long term?
The Deputy is right about the funding. There is crossover. The paediatric orthopaedic teams who work in Cappagh do a lot of work in Temple Street. There has been less crossover with Crumlin but the Crumlin team is now working with Cappagh as well. There is going to be a lot of interaction in that regard. In terms of funding, there is money going to CHI, be that to Crumlin or Temple Street. That work is ultimately happening in Cappagh. There is additional funding going to Cappagh to allow it to do work.
The Deputy also asked whether the more complex work can be done in Cappagh. At the moment, the surgical teams have said the most complex work needs to be done in Crumlin and Temple Street. One of the reasons for that is that high-dependency units are required. One needs a lot behind that work because the cases are very complex. However, I spent a lot of time at Cappagh on Friday. Its staff have big ambitions. They have submitted a proposal, for example, that I think is really interesting for significantly more high-dependency unit beds, which could help the children but also help with adult orthopaedics as well. What I would like to see, with additional funding, is complex work also being done at Cappagh. That is also Cappagh's ambition.
Question No. 64 replied to with Written Answers.
Hospital Services
Thomas Gould
Question:65. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Health the status of the elective hospital in Cork. [7942/22]
Colm Burke
Question:78. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Health when it is proposed to announce the site of the proposed elective hospital in Cork; if a site been identified; when planning will be applied for and construction work will commence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7678/22]
David Stanton
Question:156. Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Health if he will report on the progress made to date on the development of a new elective hospital in Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7720/22]
David Cullinane
Question:179. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health when he will progress elective centres; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7846/22]
I am asking the Minister for an update on the proposed new elective hospital for Cork and, in particular, whether a site has been chosen. Government Deputies are claiming a site has been chosen. I do not know about it and, more importantly, the constituents of Cork do not know about it. Will the Minister update us?
I propose to take Questions Nos. 65, 78, 156 and 179 together. I thank Deputy Gould for the question. Similar questions were tabled by Deputies Colm Burke, Stanton and Cullinane. This reply addresses all of those questions.
The development of new elective care capacity is a big commitment of the programme for Government. Last December, I brought a memo to Government and secured agreement on a new national elective ambulatory care strategy that will transform the way in which day cases, scheduled procedures, surgeries, diagnostics and outpatient services can be better arranged to ensure greater capacity in the future and help to tackle waiting lists through the development of dedicated, stand-alone elective hospitals in Cork, Galway and Dublin.
Initial proposals, as set out in a strategic assessment report, had been to develop elective day-case hospitals only. However, extensive consultations with stakeholders, particularly in Cork and Galway, indicated support for incorporating inpatient care in the new elective facilities. In other words, the proposal that came to me from the team was firmly of the view that it should be day-case services only. There was a lot of interaction around the House from Deputy Gould and others, Deputies from Galway and Cork, who said there is a strong desire for inpatient, overnight facilities in these elective hospitals as well so they could do more complex work.
We are doing it two phases. Phase 1 will be day case, outpatients and diagnostics, and phase 2 will be inpatients. Critically, however, the business case, on which we will be signing off, includes both phases and all the design work so that when phase 2 comes on, it will be part of an integrated system.
I am sorry, Acting Chairman; I am not sure of the time.
The Minister does not have to take all of it. He would have that much if he wished.
I still did not get an answer. Has a site been chosen? That is the question people in Cork want to know. Before the most recent local elections, there was an announcement there would be an announcement where the site would be. There were announcements before the by-election and the most recent general election. That was two years ago and we still do not have a definite site. For the people I represent in Cork North-Central, I am looking for that hospital to be located on the north side of the city. A report in October stated the Cabinet would include the site and that it was discussed. I am asking the Minister a straight question. Has a site been finalised? Where is it? If not, why has it not been done?
I agree with my colleague from Cork North-Central with regard to an elective hospital for Cork. The South/South West Hospital Group made a presentation to the HSE more than three years ago. An advertisement was put in place almost 12 months ago now looking for sites to be identified and here we are. Even if we identify a site in the morning, we have to get a design team in to design it, go through a planning process and get contractors in to get the job done.
It is now time to identify the site. I am not aware of any announcement or promises that a site was identified already, but my understanding is the work has been done. Why can we not now take the next step of identifying this site and get on with the planning process?
One of the places that is available to the HSE and where it actually owns the land already is Sarsfieldscourt. It has more than 100 acres where the elective hospital can be built block by block. I seriously believe we are talking about an elective hospital not only for Cork but also for Munster. There is a huge undercapacity in the health service, whether it is in Limerick, Kerry, Waterford or Cork. I ask that this now be given priority.
I thank both Deputies. The first thing to state very clearly is this is being prioritised and moved forward. I brought a memo to Government recently. We got agreement on the elective hospitals, including for Cork. One of the asks, and this is why I said it earlier, was that the proposal that came to me from the group that reviewed this had a very material change to it. As I said, the proposal I got was for day case only. Through extensive consultation at a political and clinical level, we changed that. It is a very material change. The business case, therefore, had to be updated.
I am delighted to be able to share with the Deputies that this preliminary business case has come back into the Department. It came back in on Monday morning and is now being assessed by Department officials. That will then go to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. We will see what it has to say but it is hoped it will sign off on it and then we can move very quickly into design and tender. We have to get going on this. The State is not good at building hospitals quickly. In fact, we are very bad at it. We obviously have to go through all the processes in terms of protecting public money, but we have got to move on this.
Both Deputies asked about the site. The short answer is I have a recommendation on a site but no site has been agreed. A Government decision has not been taken on a particular site. That is what the business case is going to address. I have discussed the issue at length with many Deputies and colleagues here and with clinicians in Cork. As the Deputies will know, probably better than I do, there are very strongly held views on multiple different sites. It would not be appropriate for me just yet to say which site is likely the one on which I want a final recommendation based on inpatients and day cases. I would then very much like to share with the House the preferred site as quickly as possible.
The Minister said the site has been identified but he is not announcing it at the moment. He also made a point the State is not good at building hospitals. The Government is very good at closing them on the northside of Cork city, however. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael closed the North Infirmary hospital and the orthopaedic hospital. We have sites like Sarsfieldscourt in Glanmire, the orthopaedic hospital in Gurranabraher and Our Lady’s Hospital in Shanakiel. There are numerous sites that are owned by the HSE which could be delivered. I had to fight tooth and nail for a year to get SouthDoc in Cork city reopened. That is how hard it is to get services on the northside of Cork city.
I am not sure if the Minister heard the reports today from Cork University Hospital. It has the highest numbers since records began of patients on trolleys in Cork. Cork city healthcare is in crisis at the moment. We do not have time for waiting and pushing things down the road. We need a site to be identified and it must be on the northside. I am sick and tired of one-tier development in Cork. We need balanced development, especially balanced healthcare.
I agree we need long-term planning. One of the things about long-term planning is making sure we do not identify a small site and then say we do not have adequate space in five or ten years’ time. It is important we identify a site and get on with the planning process. The planning process is going to take us a minimum of 18 months. This is now a priority. There is not sufficient capacity. Even if we take into account a scenario where the HSE were to take over all the private hospitals in Cork in the morning, it would not have sufficient capacity. A huge amount of work now is going out of Cork to Dublin because there is not capacity in Cork. This should now be given priority and a decision taken at the earliest possible date.
The Minister admitted he has the report back in. I ask that his Department now gives priority to assessing that report but also that he gets his colleague in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform also to make it a priority in that Department to deal with the issues regarding the public cost of this facility. It is a priority and needs a fast decision in order that we can get on with the job of building an elective hospital in Cork.
I welcome the Minister's comments that there is progress on the case in identifying the site. It is heartening to see the business cases have been submitted to the Minister and that, as he said, they will undergo assessment with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. It is probably one of the few questions on which the three speakers from Cork North-Central will all agree. We want identification of the site as early as possible. We have all spoken in the House about our preference for it and its location.
I understand the Minister has to make a balanced decision about the best thing for patients, the public purse and whatever other criteria by which he will need to assess the overall decision. We are in a situation with waiting lists the way they are, and as Deputy Burke said, the waiting lists will not improve without the delivery of these hospitals throughout the country. I echo the frustration with the process up to now, but at the same time, I recognise the progress that has been made and that the Minister said those business cases are now in front of him. I ask him to expedite those appraisals as quickly as possible.
I thank the Deputy. Are we finished with everyone? I believe this is the final response.
I thank the Deputies for their contributions. Two very important issues were raised, one of which is on the elective centre. It will be based in Cork, but remember, it is a regional hub. It will make a huge difference in terms of people being able to access care quickly, which ultimately is the mission in universal healthcare. That is what we are going to do. It will make a big difference.
The Deputies asked me very directly about the revised business case, which arrived back in my Department on Monday, and the need for it to be prioritised; yes, it will. The Department is prioritising it and I will be in discussions with the Minister, Deputy McGrath, who I know will look at and prioritise that as well.
We will get this through as quickly as it can happen and will then move on immediately to getting the planning process moving and the design done.
Regardless of that, there are not enough hospital beds, there is not enough acute capacity and there is not enough community capacity in Cork. We all know this and that it is not a small deficit but a very serious one. There are phenomenal clinical teams in community care, social care and hospital care in Cork. There are brilliant hospitals there. However, the health service in Cork is under enormous sustained pressure. The HSE recently intervened directly, as Deputies will be aware, and that had an impact, but it is not remotely enough. In parallel with our putting in place a regional elective centre based in Cork, we are also looking, as a matter of urgency, at how we can very quickly add more capacity there, including in diagnostics, beds, operating theatres, community-based care, home care options and so forth. The system is under unsustainable pressure and it needs serious investment. It is a very big priority for me to get moving on that and identify exactly what is needed. The funding is there and we will drive on.
I would like to let the Minister know there are operating theatres in the orthopaedic hospital that, if refurbished, would help to take the load off the backlog in elective surgeries. Orthopaedic surgeons have come to me-----
Thank you, Deputy. We are finished with this set of questions.
I just want to let the Minister know.
I am sure he is well informed on these matters.
Does he know there are theatres ready to be used?
We must be fair to our colleagues, Deputy, and move on to the next question.
Mental Health Services
Joe Flaherty
Question:66. Deputy Joe Flaherty asked the Minister for Health the number of children waiting for a child and adolescent mental health service, CAMHS, appointment in the Longford-Westmeath local health office area; the number of these children who are also on a waiting list for a primary care psychology appointment; if he plans to audit, review or reform CAMHS in the area in the wake of recent issues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7875/22]
We will all have to be here if the Minister is going to come in and announce the new facility will be on the south side of Cork. There will be some fun that day.
My question for the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, is whether she can identify the number of children waiting for a CAMHS appointment in the Longford-Westmeath local health office area, the number of these children who are also on a waiting list for a primary care psychology appointment and if there is an audit, review or reform planned of the CAMHS service in the Longford-Westmeath area in the wake of recent issues.
I thank the Deputy for his question. The HSE confirmed that as of 2 February, the latest available data show there were 23 children on the Longford-north Westmeath CAMHS waiting list and 14 on the south Westmeath list. The primary care psychology service does not cross-check its waiting lists with CAMHS or other services to see whether children are on more than one list. It is my understanding, however, that there are children on both waiting lists. All children are accepted or not accepted to primary care psychology services based on their clinical presentation and the appropriateness of primary care psychology to meet those clinical needs. Just before Christmas, I allocated €4 million for an initiative to reduce the number of children and young people under 18 years of age who have been waiting more than 12 months for a primary care psychology appointment. I am delighted that we were able to reduce the list by more than 1,600 young people in that time. Further investment of approximately €1.4 million for quarter 1 has been secured to support that ongoing initiative.
All 73 CAMHS teams throughout the country will be audited. There is a three-pronged approach from the HSE, with the first part consisting of a full nationwide audit of compliance with existing CAMHS operational guidelines, structures, processes, teams composition, skills mix and standard operating procedures. The second component will involve qualitative research to identify the experiences of children, and their families, who use CAMHS. All three components are important but I consider the third to be particularly so. It will involve an independently led audit conducted across all CAMHS teams, to include a random selection of files proportionate to the medical caseload from a continuous six-month, predefined time period in 2021. Coupled with that, the Mental Health Commission, representatives of which I met with yesterday, is conducting its own review.
I am heartened by the Minister of State's response and I pay tribute to her efforts in this area. Since taking office, she has been very passionate about her work and a great support to me and many colleagues. She and her officials have liaised with me on a number of difficult cases and I thank her for that.
In regard to the audit, will she give some indication as to a timeline for when we might see it unfold? Will it be done in every CAMHS area at the same time or area by area? The third point of the review relates to medication. The Minister of State noted that only some files would be randomly selected. Overprescription of medication and, in some cases, over-reliance on medication are a huge issue for many parents. I would like to hear more detail on that aspect. Another point that needs to be addressed is the deficiency in staffing and the difficulty in recruiting staff right across CAMHS. I heard the Minister of State respond to a Deputy from Kerry on that point earlier. It is something about which I have a concern and I would like her to elaborate on it.
Provisional figures indicate that, for 2021, referrals received were up by 5,171 on the previous year. In total, 22,600 children were referred. There are now 73 CAMHS teams, compared with 49 in 2008, and we have three paediatric liaison teams as well. There are more than 1,000 CAMHS staff, including 660 clinicians, and 93% of consultant psychiatrist posts are filled. Last year, with the money I secured in the budget, we recruited 53 more clinical staff into CAMHS teams all over the country.
The Mental Health Commission is hoping to start its review in two weeks. It has secured two consultant psychiatrists, one from Scotland and the other from Ireland, to ensure it is independent. The HSE audits will start in this quarter. There is quite a lot of work to put in place, which I will explain if there is time.
I thank the Minister of State for her detailed response. I ask her to home in, in her final response, on the specifics of the over-reliance on medication and parents' concerns in this regard. Following what has emerged in recent weeks and months, the entire CAMHS process has been discredited to some extent. It is important and reassuring for the public to see she has come out strongly on this issue and has detailed plans in place and a commitment and resolve to put this issue right. Parents are worried and I am deeply concerned that it will put many young people and parents off engaging with the service. I ask her to expand on the medication aspect in the short time that remains.
To build confidence in the 73 CAMHS teams around the country, where a huge amount of really good work is done on a daily basis, I felt it was very important, with the support of the Minister, to initiate a sample random audit of children throughout the country who were being prescribed medications. Dr. Maskey looked at 1,300 files in Kerry and we discovered 1,000 files showing that 500 children were medicated without having any adverse reactions and another 500 were not medicated. We then discovered there were issues with the 227 remaining files. This look-back was initiated by way of a sample taken of 50 files that were randomly audited. That raised red flags straight away. We will adopt a similar structure throughout the 73 CAMHS teams across the country. I believe this template will work. If it is necessary then to do a look-back into a particular team, we certainly will do so.
There is no Deputy to put Question No. 67. Is Deputy Niamh Smyth here to put Question No. 68 on behalf of Deputy O'Dea?
That is fine. As there is no Deputy present to put Question No. 69, we will move on to Question No. 70.
Questions Nos. 67 to 69, inclusive, replied to with Written Answers.
Hospital Procedures
Niamh Smyth
Question:70. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Health his plans to address the delays and deferrals of surgery at Beaumont Hospital, Dublin (details supplied) caused by Covid-19. [7794/22]
Deputy Smyth is here on her own behalf to put this question. I thought she was going to have the privilege of representing Limerick as well.
We have two colleagues able and capable of doing that. It has been interesting to hear the discussion on the various issues raised this evening. I want to talk about the situation of Fidelle, a woman from my own little town of Bailieborough, who has many challenges in life and was recently diagnosed with a strangulated hernia. She was scheduled for an operation in Beaumont Hospital. Over the past two years, Covid testing has become a natural part of hospital life and preparation for operations and so on, which we all understand. Sadly, PCR test results from the local testing centre were not acceptable. To make a long story short, Fidelle's operation has been cancelled on three occasions. Has the Minister had a chance to look into this case?
I thank Deputy Niamh Smyth for raising the issue. While I cannot discuss an individual case here, the situation obviously does not sound at all satisfactory for the Deputy’s constituent. Something does need to be done about that. The broad question, if I am correct, is around the general delays in Beaumont Hospital.
I apologise that it took me a while to get to the question.
That is okay. I want to acknowledge that this is a huge inconvenience and cause of distress for patients and for their families, in spite of an incredible team in Beaumont Hospital which is really doing everything that it can. They have made every effort to avoid cancellation and postponement, but Beaumont Hospital has been impacted by the operational challenges that Covid brings. Beaumont Hospital has taken actions, including a period of prioritising unscheduled Covid-19 care and urgent time-sensitive work. My Department is working with the HSE and the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF, to find ways to improve access to care in Beaumont Hospital. It includes the use of private hospitals, weekend work and evening work in Beaumont Hospital, various see-and-treat services, virtual clinics and various other similar initiatives. At Beaumont Hospital, general surgery, which is probably the most relevant point here, makes up a significant portion of the inpatient and day-case waiting lists. The NTPF has advised that it has approved four inpatient and day-case initiatives for funding so far this year for Beaumont Hospital, including for general surgery. This should help.
The NTPF has also approved 16 outpatient initiatives, again this year. Together, these initiatives will facilitate treatment for approximately 9,000 patients on the waiting list in Beaumont Hospital. I would certainly hope that lady, Fidelle, of whom the Deputy has spoken, either through that or through the issue around the testing, gets the care that she clearly urgently needs.
I thank the Minister for his foresight in seeing where I was trying to get with the question, which is about the issue of deferrals and delays. I can give the Minister the good news that Fidelle actually has an appointment now. I would just make the point that she had three disappointments. On three occasions, she had to isolate from her family. She had three cancellations. This is distressing for people, but she has come out the other side of it now and she is getting that appointment.
On the same issue, I just want to talk to the Minister about Daire, who is ten years of age and is from County Monaghan. He is a child who was born with no arms. He is missing the femur bones in both of his legs and he is a wheelchair user. Yesterday, I listened to his mother tell a heartbreaking story of his problems with delays and deferrals. He is waiting for a hospital appointment for orthopaedic surgery in CHI at Temple Street. It was cancelled on four occasions. She told a story of the excruciating pain, the deep distress and the continuous pain that this child is in, while he is waiting for this surgery. I know that our hospitals are under pressure but, again, it comes back to the issue of deferrals and delays. They are really not acceptable.
I heard that testimony and it was so difficult to hear. It is just heartbreaking for Daire and for his family. He and children all over the country need access to the specialised orthopaedic surgeons and treatment in CHI at Temple Street, in CHI at Crumlin, in the National Orthopaedic Hospital Cappagh, aided by some of the other hospitals. We are putting in place an ambitious plan. We are funding operating theatres, staff, diagnostics and many things. This will ensure, for Daire and other children who are waiting and whose planned operations have been cancelled again and again - which is so difficult for the children and for the parents - first, that the time they wait goes down and that the number of potential cancellations is minimised.
I have listened to the Minister tonight. I know that he is strong on the whole issue of orthopaedic surgery for children. I am heartened to hear what he has said tonight. I hope that Daire's mum, Shelley, will get some relief from that. As I said, they have had four disappointments. For a child who has that number of complications, as well as the complexity of issues, time is important. They had to travel to Dublin for pain relief to keep him going for another two weeks. All that the Minister is doing on deferrals and delays to ensure that these children get their operations, that they are not disappointed and that their families are not disappointed, is very much welcome. I thank him for all of his work on this issue.
We owe it to these children and to their parents. I met with the three hospitals last Monday. I went out to the National Orthopaedic Hospital Cappagh on Friday and I had further meetings today. This is the top priority. We will fund and prioritise this. We will get these children the care they need. We will give the supports to our incredible clinical teams, so that they can do the job that they know how to do and that they want to do.
That concludes questions to the Minister for Health. We move now to the next item on the agenda, which is Topical Issues. I have to express some surprise, given the interest in health matters, that more Deputies are not here to put the questions that they had tabled to the Minister and Minister of State. I thank the Minister and Minister of State for being here to answer them anyway. We will suspend the House for three minutes.
Is féidir teacht ar Cheisteanna Scríofa ar
www.oireachtas.ie
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Written Answers are published on the Oireachtas website.
Cuireadh an Dáil ar fionraí ar 8.46 p.m. agus cuireadh tús leis arís ar 8.48 p.m.
Sitting suspended at 8.46 p.m. and resumed at 8.48 p.m.