Ms Angela Fitzgerald:

It is the busiest model 4 in the country, so it has the highest number of presentations. In terms of the profile of patients who present, because so many patients who are lower acuity go to the model 2 hospitals, UHL has a slightly higher proportion of complex patients than some equivalent model 4 hospitals. It is not correct to say it is functioning as a model 3. A resource investment was required to ensure it had all the resource requirements of a model 4. In fairness, there has been significant investment. Our review showed it compares favourably in terms of the numbers of nursing staff because of the safe staffing framework. It also compares well in terms of the numbers of doctors. That investment is still ongoing. It is not correct to say it is functioning as a model 3 but because of the distribution of services between it and the model 2 hospitals, it takes a heavy burden of appropriate patients who require to be admitted. It needs the bed capacity and space to do that properly.