Health legislation and hospital governance
Deputy Fleming raises concerns about errors in scans reviewed by locum doctors and asks whether promised health legislation will address hospital governance; the Chair rules the matter out of order.
I wish to refer briefly to promised legislation, the first of which is the health (miscellaneous provisions) Bill. The Irish Times reported today that thousands of X-rays and scans were reviewed resulting in hundreds of patients being recalled, causing huge distress to them and their families. Errors were discovered when three locum doctors were employed. I ask the Minister to confirm that he is satisfied with the governance arrangements currently in place in Irish hospitals where locums are employed. If not, will the aforementioned Bill address this?
In the context of the Health Act 2007 (amendment) Bill I ask the Minister to outline to the House when we can expect the report from HIQA on maternity services in Portlaoise. I also wish to ask about the social welfare Bill which is listed on the schedule. We have spent all week listening to Government Deputies talking about all of the money we have to give away but the Government is still going ahead with cuts to the one parent family payment on 1 July for one-parent families where the youngest child is over seven years of age. At the same time, the Government is saying that we have the fastest growing economy in Europe. Will the social welfare Bill stop the proposed cuts that are due to take effect in July?
