Michael Harty (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Obviously, having hospital groups delivers significant added value. Dr. Susan O'Reilly alluded to this in her opening statement. Recruitment is still a problem and while hospital groups make it easier to recruit staff, they do not resolve all the problems in this area. I ask Dr. O'Reilly to address the problems in recruitment, for example, bringing recruits out to the periphery to staff smaller hospitals.

I am aware that there is added value in integrating hospitals and information technology systems. How close are we to achieving a single, integrated digital patient record that can be accessed by hospitals and primary-care providers?

On governance structures, what are the problems facing the groups? Are they administrative, financial or logistical in nature? Governing several sites is obviously a problem. Could these problems lead to a consolidation of hospitals in the groups in future?

How active are hospital groups in integrating with primary care? Given that primary care will the foundation of the health system in the future, it must be integrated with the hospital groups. How actively is this being pursued?