Vol. 395 No. 1
42 Mr. Boylan asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the difficulty in having patients placed in St. Felim's Hospital, Cavan; to the fact that there are 80-100 patients on the waiting list at present, 30 of which are acute cases with no future under the present hospital system; and his proposals to alleviate this very serious problem.
Admission to St. Felim's Hospital, Cavan is a matter for the North-Eastern Health Board in the first instance.
The Geriatric Admissions Committee for St. Felim's monitors and reviews the waiting list on an ongoing basis. Cases which are considered medically urgent or acute by the admissions committee are given a priority listing and accommodated as a matter of urgency. The board inform me that there are 40 people on the waiting list at the moment and not 80-100 as the Deputy states.
The question of geriatric bed numbers in Cavan is the subject of ongoing discussion between my Department and the board in the context of an overall integrated service for the area and in this context I am having a special study made of the vacated medical hospital at Lisdarn to assess its suitability for the ongoing care of geriatric patients.
I am pleased to note that the function of the admissions committee for St. Felim's will be enhanced in the near future with the appointment, by the North-Eastern Health Board, of a full-time liaison nurse to assist the committee.
143 Mr. Boylan asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the concern of parents due to the lack of a functional paediatric unit at Cavan General Hospital; to the fact that children have to be sent for treatment to Drogheda, County Louth, Crumlin, Dublin 12 and Ballinasloe, County Galway; and if he will give a commitment to the immediate improvement of the system by giving a starting date for the opening of the unit in Cavan General Hospital.
During 1989 I initiated a new paediatric service in Cavan. A consultant paediatrician is now available fulltime at the hospital and provides an outpatient service at Cavan and Monaghan General Hospitals and is available for consultation as required. I would like to add that I have recently approved the creation of a second consultant paediatrician post at Cavan General Hospital which has been agreed by Comhairle na nOspidéal. The process of advertising and filling this post is under way at present.
Following discussions with the newly appointed consultant paediatrician, the North-Eastern Health Board are carrying out modifications to the new unit to provide for enhanced observation of patients. The board have informed me that they expect the unit will be fully commissioned and opened in March of this year.
