asked the Minister for Health if he will consider establishing a special hospital unit in Dublin city for the treatment of accident cases only.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Treatment of Dublin Accident Cases.
2.
A hospital or hospital unit which is suitable for treatment of major accident cases must have facilities and staff providing for the investigation and treatment of a wide range of conditions involving consultants in the medical and surgical fields. It would not be desirable under present conditions to set up a hospital which concentrated solely on the treatment of patients who had been involved in accidents.
The Report of the Consultative Council on the General Hospital Services recommended that major accident work in Dublin should be based upon the two main hospital groups which the report recommended for the city. The council also advised that separate accident hospitals should not be set up.
At present the victims of accidents which occur on week-days in Dublin are normally taken to the nearest surgical hospital. For night-time and weekends, accident cover is provided by five hospitals which operate on a rota basis.
Can the Minister state if the general hospitals would be able to cope with a major disaster? Would their accident service be able to cope with any major disaster that might occur? It is a purely hypothetical question, I admit.
So far as I know, they would be able to cope with a major disaster. As the Deputy knows, in some cases the Richmond Hospital looks after accident patients where they have brain injuries. There are some five hospitals working on a rota system for accidents and emergencies conveyed by the Dublin Fire Brigade ambulances. I imagine that if there were a major disaster, even although they work on a rota system, the five hospitals that are used for accidents would be able to deal with the situation. I would hope such a situation will not arise.