Hospital Consultant Recruitment

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 April 2018

Tuesday, 17 April 2018

Questions (785)

Clare Daly

Question:

785. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that decades of underinvestment in neurological services have resulted in Ireland having the lowest ratio of consultant neurologists per head of population in the developed world and that while Ireland should have one neurologist for every 72,000 persons this is exceeded in each hospital group; his plans to address same; and the timeframe to achieve a 1:72,000 ratio of neurologists to population. [15615/18]

Written answers

Minister for Health

The Model of Care for Neurology was launched by the Director General of the HSE in late 2016. This was developed by the HSE’s National Clinical Programme for Neurology in collaboration with consultants, nurses, health and social care professionals and patient support groups. It aims to address the need for strategic development of neurology services in the provision of better care for these patients.

In relation to the particular queries raised, as these are service matters, I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly.