I acknowledge that was a truly shocking case but I must be careful not to speak about individual cases in too much detail as it is a very sensitive matter. However, that does not mean I am not deeply concerned by it. I can say that the Medical Council is aware of that case and is actively engaging with the associated parties to get more information. The Medical Council has a responsibility to ensure that everybody in the doctor profession, including those in the UCD medical school, meet the required standards for medical education. I expect the Medical Council to make full use of its powers under the Medical Practitioners Act 2007 with regard to accreditation and inspection of all training sites. I have asked my officials to engage with the Medical Council in this regard. Gender-based violence anywhere is completely unacceptable. I know I do not need to say that to Deputy Coppinger any more than she needs to say it to me. We are entirely in agreement, as is every person in this House. I can unequivocally state that incidents of gender-based violence are unacceptable in any context and must be reported to An Garda Síochána. If any such incidents occur in the health sector and involve medical practitioners, they should also be reported to the Medical Council, which exists for the purposes of patient safety. The idea of a medical practitioner of any kind doing harm to any person, particularly a woman, is anathema to all of us and does not bear thinking about. Yesterday, we had statements in the Dáil on the establishment of an inquiry for the male victims of Michael Shine right across Louth and Meath. We know about hundreds of such men and I suspect there are many hundreds of others we do not know about. We spoke about the impact it had on their lives to have a sexual offence perpetrated against them within the trusting relationship between doctor and patient. Gender-based violence, like any form of sexual violence, is totally unacceptable in the medical profession and healthcare settings, as it is anywhere else.
Sentiment score: -0.01
I know UCD and its president, Orla Feely. It is a university led by a woman. That is a difficult position to achieve no matter what year we have reached. I know this medical student will have Professor Feely's full support. I will not speak about the particulars of courses, modules and all of those things I do not know about. It would be wrong of me to pretend I do, but I certainly know UCD will put its full support behind this young woman to give her the best opportunity to succeed in her course, as she or anybody is entitled to do. I have never lost faith in the younger generation's clarity around values or the way they articulate those values and support each other. The protest was a demonstration of solidarity across the medical training community and beyond. It was a statement against gender-based violence in any context and in support of a vulnerable woman who should not have to deal with this.
Sentiment score: 0.15
I thank the Deputy. I have not seen the email she referred to so am at a disadvantage in relation to that.
Sentiment score: -0.05
Okay, but I do not follow your Instagram, if you will forgive me. I deleted it from my phone and do not have access to it so cannot speak to that with the knowledge the Deputy has of yesterday's email or any of those things. What I can simply say again and again is gender-based violence is wrong and the way we handle it is very important. Incidents should be reported to An Garda Síochána, to the Medical Council in cases relating to the doctor's profession and to the NMBI in respect of nurses. This House made a clear statement yesterday acknowledging that sexual and gender-based violence can happen within the medical profession as much as any other place, that nowhere is a perpetrator to be protected and that nowhere is a victim not to be heard. We said that loud and proud; certainly, these benches said it clearly yesterday.
Sentiment score: 0.27
I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 and 21 together. I assure the Deputies that the Government is committed to the continued development of our general practice service and improving access to GP services for all patients around the country. Over €340 million in additional annual investment in general practice has been provided under the 2019 and 2023 GP GMS agreements. Those agreements provide for increased GP capitation fees, increased and new supports for practices and new fees for additional services. By any measure, that is a considerable support provided by the State and by the taxpayer to private practices. It is important to remember that. The positive impact of this investment is seen in the increased number of doctors both applying for and undertaking GP training. Annual intake into the GP training scheme increased by 80% from 2019 to 2024. We have further increased the number of new entrant training places this year by 50 to 400. In addition, recruitment of GPs from abroad continues under the international medical graduate rural GP programme, which targets the placement of GPs to rural and under-served areas. A strategic review of general practice that is examining the range of issues affecting it is under way and will be completed this year. The review will examine issues related to capacity and will consider further possible mechanisms to attract GPs to rural and under-served areas. The review will set out recommended actions for more sustainable general practice delivery for the whole community. While the existing GMS GP contract has been significantly updated, including via a circular, a new approach must also be developed. The strategic review will identify the arrangements necessary to improve our current system of GP care and that will determine any changes required in a new contract. There is hugely significant investment in GPs, particularly in chronic disease management, which has been of real benefit to the broader healthcare system. Regarding the chronic disease management programme, the State has invested in GP services for the benefit of people of a particular age who may face chronic diseases. This is showing dividends in terms of patient care and in terms of the number of exacerbations and presentations to acute hospitals. People are living better with chronic diseases because of our investment in GPs and because they can access it more easily. I am concerned that there is not the same availability of out-of-hours GPs across the regions. That is putting additional pressures on emergency departments and local injury units, particularly at a time of rising population. I am particularly conscious of that in the mid-west and south west, but it is a national profile. That is something I need to make sure is included in any new contract. I have a number of other reflections about maximising the use of GP services so that we are getting the best in the community and reducing hospital presentations. It is important to say that our development of pharmacy contracts enables better access to GPs. Let me say loudly again that you do not need to go to your GP for eight conditions, including a simple eye infection, thrush or a urinary tract infection. You can go directly to your pharmacy and pay €30 for a consultation with a pharmacist, a diagnosis and a prescription. You need never go to two different places when you have such conditions. Who does that matter for? Everybody. It matters because it creates more space in GP practices for somebody who needs a prescription for a urinary tract infection. For an older lady, such an infection is a really serious thing that can get much worse and result in hospitalisation. Because we have changed the pathway, people can get quicker diagnosis and an appropriate prescription to clear up a basic but important and potentially risky infection. In all those ways, we have tried to expand access to appropriate medical care.
Sentiment score: 0.25
Correct.
Sentiment score: 0.00
I find myself in agreement with all of the five points Deputy Daly made, such that I do not believe it is necessary to repeat them. I look forward to working with him on the practical points he has made, particularly in relation to the out of hours framework, the premises structure, what we might do and how we might think about that, and the development of that in terms of a tax-efficient way of encouraging activity. The Deputy correctly recognised the public-private element to it. I must also recognise it from the perspective of the taxpayer, and I think that is reasonably fair, but I do not see the need to repeat all those things that I already agree with him on, but I look forward to his input in how we improve them. I thank him for that. In relation to Cork, while no GMS general practitioner posts are vacant in County Cork, I do understand, for example, in the area Deputy O'Shea represents, in Charleville, in particular, that there is a practice that is going from three GPs to two GPs. The impact that this has on the community is hugely significant. It should not be understated. While it is one GP, that is what matters. It is the hours that are available. It is the support that is there to the community. I recognise the point the Deputy is making. I know HSE officials are continuing to engage with him on that on behalf of his community. In relation to the query regarding the orthodontic service in Cork, it is anticipated that the whole-time equivalent of specialist orthodontist will reduce to 2.83 from May 2026. That is on foot of three clinical staff retiring from duty, and that has a big impact. Plans to restore the whole-time equivalent levels of specialist orthodontist and senior surgeon posts are being advanced and finalised in HSE south west. In terms of any anticipated retirements for this year, we have not received any indications of retirements from the remaining clinicians but a specialist orthodontist has been on periods of sick leave, which is impacting further delivery. We had a conversation about the importance of that earlier. I thank the Deputy for raising it.
Sentiment score: 0.18
Let me be very clear in relation to the recruitment. Any delay should only be in actually finding the consultant orthodontist and bringing them into the system. That does take time because people have to leave posts and so on but there should not be any delay at a HSE level recognising the level of need I have described to the Deputy and have described more broadly. In relation to GPs generally, we have expanded the training programmes and the numbers again and again. We do want them to work. We cannot force them to work as GPs in Ireland and we cannot force them to work in the public health system but that is what we want. Again, I think it is time to reflect on the level of investment that we put into training medical practitioners on behalf of the State. It is such a privilege to be able to do that and not charge the fees that would be charged in any other country to train as a medical practitioner and the opportunity that it gives people. We spoke about with dentists and spending a period in the public system. We want to develop a cohort of public GPs. There is no question about that, and we have to think about the ways in which we give people the opportunity, or make it a requirement, to spend time in the public service to get the benefit of that particular model. In relation to out of hours, it is really important to reflect on that, particularly in rural Ireland and where it can be more difficult to get to somebody that you need. I was reflecting on Cork in particular in anticipation of the Deputy's question. In relation to Kanturk and Mallow, for example, there were issues going back in 2023 and 2024 that the Deputy will be aware of better than I in relation to Kanturk and Macroom treatment services. The HSE did engage with SouthDoc on the matter, which confirmed that the centres were to be available by appointment only. It has been improved somewhat. I am now aware that there is an on duty doctor physically present in the Mallow treatment centre each weekday night, which is important. They can see routine patients provide telephone clinical advice and travel to locations such as Kanturk to provide home visits. That is the support that is necessary in addition to a second doctor in situ at weekends in public hospitals. We do need that out of hours facility, as Deputy Daly has highlighted. We need to continue to make sure that this is part of the GP offering.
Sentiment score: 0.19
I thank the Deputy. I am fully committed to ensuring sufficient health care capacity across every part of Ireland. I compliment the work done in the midlands between the triangle of hospitals between Mullingar, Portlaoise and Tullamore, which are all performing at an exceedingly high standard in relation to all aspects of care, both emergency and scheduled. However, we need further development of the elective care capacity in the midlands. The HSE capital plan sets out a range of investments for the midlands, including the recently completed two-storey emergency department in Portlaoise, the reconfiguration of the renal department to provide additional dialysis treatment space and 2 additional neutral pressure isolation rooms in Tullamore Regional Hospital and progressing the appraisal for the replacement ward accommodation, theatre department and emergency department for projects for Regional Hospital Mullingar. Alongside this excellent progress and the continued strong work by each of the hospitals, there is need for more capacity in terms of elective work. I do believe that this triangle of hospitals, working together, can offer a situation of exceptionally good elective work. Specifically on that, the HSE Dublin and midlands health region has confirmed that it is undertaking an analysis to inform the future development of an action plan. This early scoping phase is intended to consider potential options for new or additional capacity, including in the area of elective care. An expressions of interest process forms part of this broader review. Work to define scope, parameters and governance arrangements is ongoing. The process is expected to be completed by the end of this quarter. I am assured that the region will provide updates as this work develops. The implementation of health infrastructure investment policy via the strategic healthcare investment framework means that any future proposal for new infrastructure will be centred on evidence-based demand analysis and established on a need identified by services.
Sentiment score: 0.28
I take this opportunity to compliment Midland Regional Hospital in Tullamore and its excellent manager, Louisea Burke, on delivering consistently predictable urgent and emergency care. While it is not easy, they do it with an extraordinary focus on patient care. Mr. Bernard Gloster, CEO of the HSE, visited the hospital recently to compliment them in that regard. Often we attend hospitals where there is a problem but not often enough do we attend hospitals to compliment them on their excellent work. Tullamore hospital is deserving of that attention. I met Tullamore hospital management reasonably recently, at the end of January at our regional forum, where I again took the opportunity to congratulate Louisea and all of the staff at Tullamore hospital for providing that extremely good, predictable and safe service to the people of the area. The hospital and the midlands need more elective capacity, however. Of course, because of the region it is in, it is within the south Dublin surgical hub, which is connected to St. James’s Hospital. That is a busy hub already and there is a need to reflect on the balance of that provided throughout the midlands. I acknowledge the Deputy’s advocacy on behalf of Tullamore. Indeed, I have visited it with him and seen the value of the space around Tullamore regional hospital. I know it well because of the Deputy.
Sentiment score: 0.33
I was just reflecting on how Birr primary care centre has evolved since we saw it last summer. I am looking forward to visiting it in quarter 3 of 2026 when it will be operational to see how magnificent it is. For anyone who has not seen it, it is absolutely huge. It will be an enormous addition to primary care for the people of Offaly generally. Of course, it will have extensive GP practices and a pharmacy. It will also provide space for a National Ambulance Service base. It is extraordinary and it will add enormously. Indeed, I hope it will take some pressure off the hospital as well. It is true that more elective capacity is necessary. While we are not considering a surgical hub model as such – we have enough work to do to get Sligo and Letterkenny ahead – that does not mean there are not different ways of achieving additional elective capacity. When I say we are open to suggestion in this regard, we really are. That is why we have insisted on this expression of interest process to determine what more can be done to deliver that elective capacity in an even stronger way, recognising the already excellent work done by the triangle of good hospitals.
Sentiment score: 0.31
The HSE contracts GPs to provide medical services on its behalf, including GP services under the general medical services, GMS, contract. Over 3,200 GPs hold at least one contract with the HSE, which is a 9% increase compared with January 2020. As GPs are private practitioners, they determine the location from which they provide GP services. Increasing GP capacity is a priority for the Government. As I said in response to Deputy Daly, we have significantly increased the new entrant places. Additionally, we are trying to recruit from abroad for the international medical graduate rural GP programme. There are 180 primary care centres operational across the country, with 51 centres having opened since 2020. A total of eight primary care centres are operational in Kildare, three of which are in north Kildare, in Kilcock, Celbridge and Clane. The HSE is also considering the development of a further centre to serve north-east Kildare. Available figures show the number of GPs with GMS contracts in the Kildare west and Wicklow local health office area has increased by over 20% since 2020, from 110 to 134. Obviously, that is a broader area than Kildare North, the constituency the Deputy represents, but it is the relevant geographic operational area for the HSE. Nevertheless, I recognise the significant population growth in north Kildare and the needs of the Deputy’s community in respect of access to GPs. We very much hope that number will be enhanced, not just for the region but specifically for the towns and villages of north Kildare the Deputy represents
Sentiment score: 0.23
I agree with the Deputy. The difficulty, again, is that private GP practices determine their location. That is a challenge. The Deputy is right; we need to try to focus on the primary care centres and enable more GPs to come into the public practice. It is a particularly frustrating area because, of course, plans were advanced for primary care centres, which required planning permission to turn a facility into a primary care centre. They have not progressed, however. We are looking at the bigger one to serve Leixlip and Maynooth but that does not answer the question of the Deputy’s constituents today. I agree with the Deputy; it is a considerable challenge for people to have to go back to their original GP, particularly for students, when they need basic access to care. I acknowledge what the Deputy is saying. We are trying to increase capacity everywhere through pharmacies, additional GP practices and additional primary care practices. The Deputy’s area has been particularly tight and I know this is not the first time we have spoken about it. The Deputy has articulated this issue on behalf of his constituents a number of times during these questions, and I genuinely acknowledge what he is saying.
Sentiment score: 0.23
The Deputy is right; we have a challenge in this regard. On the one hand, we cannot tell private GP practices where they should locate. That is a matter for them to determine. At the same time, we want to ensure they locate in areas of need, such as the Deputy’s constituency. He has suggested looking at some measures to create different incentives for GPs to either join a practice or physically extend a practice and how the State could offer the best support to them to do that. This is something the Deputy has mentioned to me before. Perhaps we might follow that up to see how we could consider that to create additional incentives for GPs to set up or expand practices in specified areas.
Sentiment score: 0.38
Haemochromatosis is a hereditary condition, common in Ireland, characterised by an over-absorption of iron from the gastrointestinal tract. Excess iron accumulates in organs including the liver, pancreas and heart, causing damage. I am informed that Ireland has been confirmed as having the highest rate of haemochromatosis worldwide. I am advised by the HSE that the Irish Haemochromatosis Association receives €55,000 in funding from the Health Service Executive each year to support engagement, raise awareness, support patients, their families and the medical community and raise awareness of haemochromatosis. The association’s initiatives include World Haemochromatosis Awareness Week, taking place from 1 to 7 June every year, and the GP practice nurse training and education programme. The diagnosis, treatment and management of patients living with the condition is guided by the hereditary haemochromatosis model of care, developed by the hereditary haemochromatosis working group, and the guidance document of the Irish College of General Practitioners, Hereditary Haemochromatosis: Diagnosis and Management from a GP Perspective. I understand that the condition can be treated very effectively by a process called venesection or therapeutic phlebotomy, which involves the patient having their blood taken. This can happen in acute hospitals or GP surgeries or at an Irish Blood Transfusion Service, IBTS, facility. It is extraordinary that Ireland has the highest rate of this condition worldwide and we need to do more to drive awareness of it.
Sentiment score: 0.15
I do not know what the reasons for that are and why Ireland has the highest rate of it. I would be quite interested to find that out. As the Deputy says, this is a condition that can be managed well, particularly at a primary care level. It is the most common genetic disease here, with one in 83 people genetically predisposed to develop the condition. The symptoms are sort of non-specific and include non-specific fatigue and joint pain. The diagnosis is very variable. However, it can be treated well and effectively and it is important we discuss it here in Parliament as part of raising awareness of this very common condition among the Irish population. I thank the Deputy for his question.
Sentiment score: 0.19
I thank the Deputy for sharing his own experience and perspective because that helps to tell the story of how common this is and what the impact is. We support the Irish Haemochromatosis Association and World Haemochromatosis Awareness Week, which takes place from 1 to 7 June every year. The association also runs the GP practice nurse training and education programme. To the extent we can do so, we will get behind that world awareness programme every year in the first week of June, a lovely week of the year, to drive awareness of haemochromatosis, and I am sure the Deputies will be at the forefront of that.
Sentiment score: 0.48
The Healthy Ireland framework provides a number of strategies to ensure everyone in Ireland can enjoy good health as they age, including the national physical activity framework and the obesity policy and action plan. One in three older women and one in five men are affected by osteoporosis. In 2023, the Department published healthy eating guidelines for adults aged 65 and over, which emphasise the importance of a healthy diet for older adults to maintain muscle mass and bone strength to support independent living. A HSE fracture liaison service pathway developed by the National Clinical Programme for Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery promotes preventative community-based care as opposed to a reliance on reactive medicine, in line with Sláintecare reform. This year my Department approved funding to the HSE to pilot a scalable, multidisciplinary falls and frailty prevention service for women aged 65 plus in Mayo, Galway, and Roscommon. This service particularly targets older women at increased risk of falling, frailty, mobility issues, fear of falling, chronic conditions or reduced function post-hospitalisation. The overall aim is to reduce falls and fractures and the demand for treatment and long-stay care in acute services. Falls assessments, along with osteoporosis drug treatments, are essential for fracture risk reduction and these are being progressed through the community access to diagnostics scheme and the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013. We are also investing and supporting a range of different forms of exercise in the community. I do not wish to name communities but I have seen projects in Sligo, in my own constituency and in Limerick, which are encouraging safe exercise among people of all ages to develop their muscle mass and bone strength in a way that is not likely to lead to any injuries, but only to rejuvenation and greater strength. That is a hugely important part of living well as we age.
Sentiment score: 0.35
The element of preventative care is crucial from the perspective of diet, lifestyle management and the ways in which people exercise. The gym membership piece is interesting but exercise is available in lots of different ways. I am seeing different forms of community exercise groups. There is a fantastic facility in a GAA centre in south Sligo and in other places. What you are doing is turning up as part of a community and going through the different machines. Whether people are post-hospital or post-diagnosis, using those safe, community facilities to build up their strength and bone mass is an important part of preventing illness, future falls and recovering. Of course, it is an extremely difficult situation to have the fear of falling particularly in the winter when weather is bad, and hospitals are already under pressure from respiratory illness. We have seen this winter in particular that combination of respiratory illness and falls from a prolonged period of bad weather. It does not help anybody and makes living as an older person that bit more difficult.
Sentiment score: -0.04
We met women with endometriosis at the beginning of September 2025 and this scheme was put in place six weeks later. It was put in place for a specific reason, which was that we wanted to make access to surgeries as easy as possible. There are already two schemes, which are the cross-border directive and the treatment abroad scheme. In many ways those required women to pay upfront when what we wanted to do was pay the upfront cost for them. I understand we set up a dedicated two-year scheme to keep it in line with EU rules and that was launched on 18 October 2025. I need to be cautious with regard to patient confidentiality in my response but I can say that a dedicated email address was established. I think we have received approximately 80 communications with that email address. They do not necessarily relate to that scheme but to the operation of other schemes as well. It has provided a single point of contact, which has been useful because the information was too fragmented before. We have had 20 completed applications since it opened on 18 October and approximately ten women have travelled abroad for surgery under that initiative. That is not the total number of women whom we have supported to travel. We have also supported women to travel under the cross-border directive and the treatment abroad scheme because they have been at different stages of their care and have taken different approaches. This has opened up a scheme for people who want an upfront cost paid. However, the focus on it through centralising it in this way has enabled a better conversation with the other schemes as well. There have been a number of different questions on it, which is natural with any new scheme, many of which we are smoothing out. This includes referrals by consultants and different issues. I met officials from the national women and infants health programme, NWIHP, and today I have the good fortune of getting to meet up to 100 endometriosis patients in the Department with clinicians.
Sentiment score: 0.28
When a new scheme is established, it must be done in a legally robust way. It is necessary to identify a reason these clinicians and not those clinicians are included. For example, the European Endometriosis League, EEL, and the British Society for Gynaecological Endoscopy, BSGE, criteria were picked. All of those clinics that were on those very defined lists automatically came onto the scheme. The clinics that the Deputy is referring to in Athens and Romania were not among those accredited by the EEL or BSGE. We said this clearly at the time. We asked NWIHP to engage further to see had they and could they meet the clinical standards to enable them to be within the scheme in a legally robust way. NWIHP has engaged with Athens and Bucharest. That process is not complete. I expect there will be some positivity and some negativity in relation to that. A relationship has also been developed with Bordeaux, which is, of course, much closer. There is a dedicated centre there and we are going to include that on the improved list. It is a live and iterative list that we are trying to develop all the time but it has to meet the clinical guidelines as well for our clinicians to refer people on to that scheme, which was one of the barriers in the past.
Sentiment score: 0.24
We have to keep it clinically safe as well and within the rules for the future.
Sentiment score: 0.61
If I were to come back and give the Deputy the specific reasons there might be a concern about one clinic, she might take a different view. Perhaps we might have that conversation privately, because I suspect she does not have the complete information that I have, which is not a fair balance. We might perhaps speak about that separately. She is correct that in the past there was a reluctance to refer patients abroad because clinicians did not know where they were referring them to. That is a cultural issue as much as anything else but we have overcome that now. I would not, though, classify all clinicians in that space.
Sentiment score: -0.14
But the Deputy did. Let me just be careful. We have clinicians who have been taking their own time to go and see others through surgeries so that they might learn more. We have developed different education pathways and fellowships over the past number of months, particularly with clinicians who really wanted to do better in Ireland and access the opportunity to do better in Ireland. I want to support those clinicians who are taking those steps. On Friday, the Royal College of Physicians is hosting its first conference on endometriosis with the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. This is because of the weight we have placed on its importance. It is about clinicians at the highest level in the institute and the college responding and putting their focus onto this issue. I have seen them step up, and I would love to see that acknowledged.
Sentiment score: 0.27
As the Deputy will be aware, primary care psychology provides a broad range of supports and treatment for mild to moderate mental health conditions. HIs concern is particularly the south Lee area, so I might get to that. Currently 2,445 children and young people under the age of 18 are waiting to access primary care psychology in the south Lee area, with 198 waiting for between 26 and 39 weeks, and 1,792 waiting longer than 52 weeks. That is an aberration and should not be the case. It simply has to be improved. Several key initiatives have been deployed by HSE South West to try to improve access to the services. This is having an impact, to be fair. In 2025, 30% more patients were seen in the region compared to 2024. The Deputy and I, however, want that rate of improvement to continue. Furthermore, the regional director of psychology has established a child psychology service waiting list improvement initiative to drive improvements in accessing key areas such as workforce planning and development for the region, waiting list and capacity solutions and clinical service innovation. Local recruitment, last month and this month, will lead to retaining graduating trainees in permanent posts mapped to primary care and CAMHS and adult mental health services priorities. A number of psychology assistant posts from a new national panel created in December 2025 will be allocated to both the IHA south and west, and north and east to reflect the fact that the longest waiters are in the south Lee and north Lee areas. We also have the primary care psychology waiting list initiative to try to target. That has had some success since 2021, removing more than 15,000 children from the waiting list nationally. Additionally, we have put in funding of €4.75 million in budget 2026, which will remove a further 3,000 from the national wait list this year, a number of whom will be from the south Lee area. I am not comfortable with the levels of waiting in the area, as I know the Deputy is not, and I expect a continued reduction, as was the case from 2025, which was better than 2024. We do have a lot of work to do.
Sentiment score: 0.34
I am sorry. I did not hear the Deputy.
Sentiment score: -0.04
There were 1,792 waiting longer than 52 weeks.
Sentiment score: 0.00
I agree with the Deputy. We increased the number of psychology doctoral training places to 111 at the end of 2025. This was up from 49 places in 2021. It is not just about the doctoral level. We want to create psychology assistant posts too, where we can make sure that people with a master's degree can work to support doctoral-level psychologists to increase workforce expansion. Not everybody has to have a doctorate. People can have a master's degree and still do important psychology work under the supervision of a different level of clinician. We are trying to find different ways to expand the workforce. Locally, at the moment - literally last month - we are trying to retain graduate trainee posts and permanent positions in the south west and recruit four psychology assistants from the national recruitment panel established in December 2025, who will be allocated to support waitlist reduction in the longest waiting areas. We have 15 trainees exiting the doctoral training programme, which will be back-filled to ensure there is a pipeline of new psychologists to engage in that work. I completely acknowledge the challenge, measure of improvement and focus on recruitment. The Deputy and I are going to want to see that delivered for young people who need psychological support in that area.
Sentiment score: 0.34
I cannot answer that for the Deputy this morning but it is an important question. We might put this series of questions to Andy Phillips in respect of that region. I am sorry I cannot answer that question for the Deputy.
Sentiment score: 0.23