Mr. Damien McCallion:

I acknowledge the work of the team in University Hospital Waterford in relation to, as the Deputy said, its positive performance. There are a number of hospitals around the country which are achieving good outcomes on inpatient, day case and emergency care. We are trying to apply the learning from sites where things are working well to other sites, including factors such as local operations, patient flow and the capacity of the system, not just beds, but also community capacity in terms of beds and home care. University Hospital Waterford still has challenges but they are managed through. We have an improvement team, which Dr. O'Connor may want to speak on. The team takes the positive learning from those sites and applies it to some of the other sites that are under pressure. Different hospitals face different challenges regarding capacity, community services, staffing challenges and so on. We work with each site - that is the purpose of the local plans - to ensure it reflects what is needed in its community and for its population. One of the lessons from University Hospital Waterford is that it is a positive experience for patients. I have walked around the hospital and you can see it in what is happening there. We want to take that learning from Waterford-----