Hospital Services
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-01
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Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (FG), Dún Laoghaire

I am so glad to have the opportunity to discuss this matter with the Deputy. I want to compliment the work of Dr. Deirdre Jones and that of the hospital manager, Marie Doorly, who has transformed Roscommon University Hospital into an enormously important part of the infrastructure of the north west. The hospital is doing great work, and we want to see it doing more great work.
Roscommon is a level 2 hospital. The Government is pleased to have been able to increase its budget by 63%, from €28 million in 2020 to €46 million in 2025. Staffing has grown by 31%. In-patient bed capacity has grown by 5%. As Deputy Daly is aware, what we are trying to do at the hospital is so much about day-case procedures. He referenced the endoscopy suite, which I am going to go to see. I think that unit could run harder in the evenings and that we could do more there. Where we see really efficient practice is what we want to support.
As the Deputy stated, the clinic in question is run by Dr. Deirdre Jones. There is a lot of advanced nursing practitioner support within the clinic, which is a real example of what is good about and what is possible with Sláintecare. There is no reason for people from Roscommon to have to travel to Galway for this service when it can be and is being delivered so capably in Roscommon. The service is led by a consultant and provides day-case and outpatient care.
Of course, it has the ancillary benefit of reducing pressure on the acute hospital in Galway, which does not need to see these day case procedures that can be supported so well elsewhere.
What I really admire about this treatment process and the way the hospital is running it is that it is a direct access model. It is a "see and treat" service, which is fantastic for patients because they do not have to come back again and again. It also runs a skin cancer surveillance service under the national cancer control programme, which has been in operation for 15 years. It ensures that all patients who have had any sort of cancer diagnosis are kept actively under surveillance and monitored. In the past three years, it has introduced a photo triage element of the service, which is fantastic. It means that GPs can send in a GP referral as requested but also include a photo, so they are getting ahead of the question all the time. The clinical nurse manager reviews that in conjunction with the consultant. It is a really streamlined pathway to the correct model of care. In many cases, the patient may not need an appointment and the GP is advised as such. Therefore, it is a very efficient, productive and caring model, where patients are prioritised on the basis of clinical need.
Roscommon hospital has excised twice as many skin cancers - 1,200 in 2024 - as benign lesions, and has also treated 10% of Ireland's melanoma patients. That is quite an output for the work in a model 2 hospital. We will continue to invest in the plastic services, and the opportunities for expansion of the services can be reviewed. I happen to be in Roscommon in July, and I might drop in and have a look.

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Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:06+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-01