Dr. Colm Henry:

Absolutely, we want to leverage that situation but we do not want to go back to creating the impression that the model 2 hospitals have the capability and expertise to deal with complex care right up to and including intensive care. They do not. What we need to do, which is what we have done in Mallow, are doing in Ennis and will be doing in Roscommon, is ensure that the ambulance service, at the point of retrieval of patients, can identify those who can safely be brought directly to model 2 hospitals, thus alleviating the pressure on model 3 and model 4 hospitals and ensuring more appropriate care for the patients. The patients include people with non-critical chest pain, pneumonia, syncope or fainting spells, and non-critical illnesses who do not need to be brought directly to UHL, CUH or the Mater hospital. They can be brought directly to model 2 hospitals, where they can complete their full care pathway safely. These people are already presenting as walk-ins at the model 2 hospitals but we want to make sure that we fully leverage the ambulance service capability to bring them directly to model 2 hospitals.