Vol. 454 No. 3
103 Miss Quill asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the need to appoint a second urologist at Cork University Hospital; if such an appointment is necessary in order to avert the hardship and expense currently put on patients and their families who are to travel from the region to have matters attended to in a Dublin hospital; and if it is his intention to sanction a second such appointment. [10539/95]
Limerick East): The Southern Health Board currently has a complement of one consultant urologist who is employed at Cork University Hospital. Until recently the post was filled in a temporary capacity and in the last few months interviews were held for the post to be filled on a permanent basis.
Arising from these interviews an appointment is due to be made in the autumn and the surgeon who held the post in a temporary capacity has now left to take up a post elsewhere. In the interim the post is being filled on a locum basis.
I am aware that the question of the second urology post for Cork University Hospital is currently under consideration by the Southern Health Board in consultation with the other agencies in the board's area. However, a formal application for a second urology post has not been received in the Department to date. On receipt of such an application, it will be considered in the context of the board's overall priority service developments, the many competing priorities nationally and the resources available for this purpose.
