Kenny raises concern on healthcare

People are gambling with their lives if they look for an effective service in the North-Eastern Health Board area, the Dáil has been told.

As the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, confirmed that an urgent review of all the factors involving the death of nine-year-old Frances Sheridan would take place, the Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, said there were serious concerns about the fundamental issue of continuity of care in the North Eastern Health Board area.

"Today a child lies dead in Cavan. I do not attribute blame in this case but, in extending sympathy to the parents, brothers and sisters of the child, this is another tragic incident in a long line of incidents which have been well flagged in the area by parents, doctors and public representatives.

"It calls into question political responsibility for the delivery of an effective health service for the people when they need it," Mr Kenny said.

All parties expressed their sympathies to the Sheridan family.

The girl died two weeks after she underwent an appendix operation in Cavan General Hospital and this tragedy, together with other incidents including the suspension of two consultants due to interpersonal conflict, created the perception that "people are actually gambling with their own lives if they look for an effective health service in this district", the Fine Gael leader said.

Mr Kenny accused the Government and the Minister for Health of failing in their responsibilities to deliver on an election commitment to provide a "world-class service", with an end within two years to hospital waiting lists.

He called on the Taoiseach to guarantee that patients "are not pawns in the rows that go on".

Mr Ahern said he did not want to "in any way link" the matters at issue in Cavan General Hospital. The review into the death of Frances Sheridan would look at everything, from her first contact with the hospital on January 7th until her death on February 1st.

Referring to the long-running controversy about the suspension of two Cavan hospital consultants who failed to work in harmony, Mr Ahern said: "I quite frankly don't know what the argument is about, but I'll do my best to solve the argument."

The consultants have been suspended without pay since August and the Minister for Health had appointed a third committee to investigate the complaint.

The two previous committees were disbanded or representatives withdrew because of potential conflicts of interest and non-payment of fees.

Expressing his frustration at the lack of progress in the conflict, the Taoiseach said the consultants were "having a tiff with each other over something for the last six months and none of their colleagues for some reason or another are prepared to get involved in investigating it. But at least we've got to that stage now."

Mr Ahern said he got a full report about the quarrel on Monday. He said that since the second committee was disbanded before Christmas the intervening period had been taken up with attempts to identify consultants without any potential conflict of interest, "who are willing to represent their colleagues on the committee of inquiry; and the Irish Hospital Consultants' Association has indicated unwillingness to put forward a list of names due to non-payment of fees for its members".

He said the Department had signalled its willingness to provide locum cover for the consultants on the inquiry committee and to indemnify them against any legal action arising from their work on the committee investigating the complaints concerning the two consultants.

The Labour leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, doubted "whether another insider review is what it called for in what is manifestly a dysfunctional service".