The Minister of State for Health, Dr Tom Moffat, has rejected claims by a consultant at Tallaght Hospital about the standard of treatment, bed shortages and waiting lists at the hospital.
Professor Arthur Tanner, a consultant surgeon, said in a letter to Mr Pat Rabbitte (Labour, Dublin South West) that a constituent of the TD would be "lucky to be admitted for surgical removal of her goitre within the next five years".
He claimed that the "chronic bed shortage" would not be alleviated by the opening of a new 76-bed wing, because once it was opened the hospital authorities "intended to close 70 beds in the main hospital".
He added that the care he could offer in Tallaght was below what he had been able to provide in the Adelaide and Meath hospitals.
Dr Moffat said that the patient referred to had been put on a waiting list in February and was scheduled for admission on July 11th. While there had been some delays in admissions for certain procedures, he denied that there was a "serious bed shortage" at Tallaght Hospital.
Dr Moffat said he was confident that a series of measures - including increased funding - taken by the Department, the hospital and the Eastern Regional Health Authority would result in the provision of services in an "enhanced and more efficient manner".
Mr Rabbitte raised the matter on the adjournment in the Dail and said that the consultant's letter was a response to his representations on behalf of the woman with the goitre, who was in such pain that she could "scarcely speak or swallow".
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