asked the Minister for Health what future plans there are for the improvement of accommodation and surgical and medical facilities for the county hospital, Wexford.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Wexford Surgical and Medical Facilities.
83.
The Deputy will be familiar with the report of the Consultative Council on the general hospital services which has made recommendations for the more effective organisation of these services so that the public would be given a better service than is possible under the present system. I have accepted these recommendations in principle and I have been engaged in discussions about their implementation with representatives of many of the interests concerned including the Wexford County Council.
It is clear that in planning the long term development of our general hospital services we must depart from the system of County Hospitals related to the needs of the population within the county whether it be large or small. The developments which have taken place in medicine demand a larger catchment than the average county if adequate consultant staffing and the provision of necessary equipment and specialised facilities is to be made available.
While I have agreed that a new hospital should be provided in Wexford town the issue to be determined is the range of services to be given in it with particular reference to surgery. I am obtaining information about the extent of the demand for emergency surgery in the county and I will take this into account in arriving at a final decision.
As regards the immediate prospect, the Deputy is aware of the improvements recently carried out at the County Hospital. Additional works to improve facilities for the obstetrical service in the hospital are at present under consideration in my Department.
I am sure the Minister is aware of the strong feeling there is in the whole of the county of Wexford at the suggestion that the hospital should be downgraded. I think I intimated this to the Minister in conversation in the recent past. The Minister says he has accepted the report in principle. I trust, therefore, that when he says he has accepted it in principle, he has not made up his mind what is to happen to the various county hospitals in the country at the present time, and in this case in Wexford. Will the Minister say if he is satisfied that the members of that commission, apart from their medical information and their qualifications, which are very high, were in a proper position and had the proper experience of local government, to make such a recommendation to the Government? Will he not agree that it would have been preferable there should have been included some members of local authorities and of the various other organisations in a particular area? I am sure the Minister has a similar reaction to that in Wexford from various other parts of the country. I ask him to make immediate arrangements to discuss this matter of the Wexford County Hospital with the local authority.
There is no question of not having a first-class hospital in Wexford in the future. The only question is what will be the range of the facilities available in that hospital. On the question of the council, this was a council of consultants recommending on the specialised aspects of medicine and the structure that should develop in the country to give the best results to the people from specialities. There is no question of arbitrary decisions being made in regard to any area. I should be most happy to have discussions in Wexford or elsewhere in regard to the implementation of these recommendations.
I can take it, therefore, that it is not intended to reduce the Wexford County Hospital, as suggested in the report, to a health centre concerned with obstetrics and medical cases. The Minister should also have regard to the social matters, the health effects and economic effects. He and the Government should appreciate that there appears to have been a deliberate attempt to run down this part of the country recently. I do not say the Minister for Health has sole responsibility for this. I appreciate the Minister's suggestion that this commission approached the problem from a specialist viewpoint, but there are other things to be considered. There is the question of inconvenience to people who have to visit hospitals, particularly in emergency cases. In Wexford, if there is a case of acute appendicitis the patient would have to travel a distance of more than 40 miles and in weather like we have had in January and February this could prove fatal.
Can we take it now that the Wexford County Hospital will not close? I wish to thank the Minister personally for giving us this guarantee. I should like to make one comment on Deputy Corish's speech. I do not know who ran down industry in Wexford but it was not any of our Party. Again, I sincerely thank the Minister.
I do not think Deputy Allen has the right end of the stick. The Minister has no intention of closing down the hospital. What we are objecting to is the degrading of it to a health clinic.
That was not the discussion.
Deputy Allen does not know: he was not there.
I have every intention to close down Wexford County Hospital and I hope to close it down quickly along with every other county hospital in the country, but Wexford Hospital will not be closed. One of the points in the report is that we have to get away from the county idea in regard to the treatment of acute cases. The guarantee I am giving is that there will be in Wexford a first-class hospital and I shall be glad to discuss the range of its facilities with the people concerned. It will not be a county hospital. There will not be any county hospitals any more.