Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 June 2004
4 Dr. Cowley asked the Minister for Health and Children the reason a person (details supplied) cannot be transferred to a Galway hospital for the care she requires for a tracheotomy following an aneurysm operation complication; his views on the transfer to a Galway hospital from Mayo General Hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18550/04]
View answerThe provision of services to the person in question is a matter for the Western Health Board. However, after inquiries to the board, I have been advised that the patient requires long-term care, rather than acute care, due to the complexities of the case. The Western Health Board has worked closely with the person's family, the staff at Mayo General Hospital and other health board departments which would have had a role to play in securing an appropriate placement in Galway.
A transfer to University College Hospital, Galway was not an option as this hospital provides acute care and is not the appropriate place to admit patients who require long-term care. A second option was an admission to a Western Health Board long-term care facility such as Merlin Park Hospital or St. Brendan's Hospital in Loughrea. However, a referral had previously been made to the admission team responsible for such facilities. It was refused on the grounds that the consultant geriatrician involved does not admit people below the age of 65 years requiring long-term care.
The third option explored was placement in a private nursing home. A particular nursing home was identified and the following process was agreed. The Western Health Board would be in a position to fund such a placement, the cost of which would have in excess of the maximum which is available under nursing home subvention. A meeting of clinicians would take place to ascertain if the needs of the person in question could be met in this nursing home. The family and Mayo General Hospital staff would then be invited to visit the nursing home.
On confirmation that the Western Health Board would provide funding to support the person's placement in this nursing home, relatives visited it. The meeting between the team in Mayo General Hospital and the nurse manager of the nursing home took place recently. Unfortunately, despite a great willingness on everyone's part to facilitate this placement, it was concluded that the nursing home would not be in a position to meet the patient's extensive medical needs. This outcome was communicated to the person's family by the social worker in Mayo General Hospital who is the main contact with the family. Further options are being explored in consultation with the family. The board has assured me that it will work with the person's family and engage with them in any actions it takes on their behalf.
I thank the Minister for his reply but it is not acceptable. Previously, I attempted to raise this issue under Standing Order 31. The person in question is 48 years old, was born in Galway yet has been in Mayo General Hospital for the last two and a half years after suffering complications from a brain aneurysm. She now requires constant nursing care and has had a tracheotomy tube inserted.
The excellent care provided by Mayo General Hospital is readily acknowledged by her family. However, this lady lived in County Mayo for less than a year. When she fell ill, she was taken to Mayo General Hospital. Her 12 year old son must make a 100 mile round trip to visit her and is now suffering from lack of contact with his mother, although she can still hear and feel. The lady in question is being kept in an acute hospital because it is the only place in the region capable of caring for her. Why can she not be cared in an acute hospital nearer her family home?
When a relative of the lady, a constituent of the Minister's, contacted him at his Grand Parade office concerning the matter two years ago, he informed her it would be sorted out. The relative was sent to the Western Health Board and still nothing has been resolved. In answer to a parliamentary question submitted by me last February, the Minister replied that the matter would be resolved by the Western Health Board. Two years have passed and still there has been no resolution. This is unacceptable.
Every nursing home in County Mayo has been examined for a placement for the lady but none has the facilities for her care. She is not accepted by long-stay care institutions because she is not yet 65. Does the Minister think he has failed?
The Western Health Board told this family that the facility available, an eight-bedroom ward with Alzheimer's patients, is "not a pretty picture". We are trying to get this lady into a nursing home but none will take her because she needs so much care. The Western Health Board is sending people to nursing homes who require a high level of care which cannot be given there. Why is there no State facility for such people? Why is this lady being denied a place in a Galway hospital when she requires acute care? The Western Health Board said that nursing homes and long-stay homes are not suitable for her. Her 12 year old son lives in Galway.
We are running out of time. The Deputy must confine himself to a question.
The lady's 12 year old son needs care and contact. Has the Minister failed? Will he ensure a bed in a Galway hospital for this poor lady? What can a Mayo hospital do that a Galway hospital cannot do? Why must a Mayo hospital take this lady when her family lives in Galway?
An acute hospital is not the most appropriate place for her.
There is no other place for her.
I share the Deputy's concern. I do not give categoric guarantees in individual cases. I will do my best in the way everyone else does in this House, through the executive agencies responsible, in an effort to secure the best possible outcome for any individual.
The situation has gone on for two years. The lady is one of my constituents.
There is a mechanism or option which could be used by the Western Health Board to resolve this case. We put it to the board that we wanted this case resolved. It considered a number of options. Unfortunately the last one, a nursing home placement, did not work out — we thought it would — because of the consultations needed.
The lady needs acute hospital care.
Packages of care can be organised in different locations. One does not have to be in an acute hospital to avail of the package of care required in this case. Similar packages of care have been provided in other areas of the country in contexts different to acute hospital settings. No one would realistically suggest that we provide for cases such as this in an acute hospital setting. The case highlights the situation with the young chronic sick for whom there has been an historic deficit of suitable standalone units. I acknowledge that.
There is nothing suitable for this lady. She needs acute hospital care and it must be provided.
The health board should be in a position to facilitate a resolution in this lady's case.
