Mr. Liam Woods:

Yes. The Deputy asked questions about GPs, GP lists, referral patterns for individual practices nobody understood, the work of Shannondoc, which Bernard Gloster might be able to speak to, and whether that was understood in terms of a source of admission into hospitals or referrals to hospitals. It is, and such data exist within individual hospital patient administration systems. With regard to the pathways question and the movement of patients from a level 4 to a level 3 or level 2 facility or, indeed, into the community, the models of care are developed clinically. The Deputy's question or statement is very sensible. It is a direction we are seeking to travel, to provide as much care as possible at the lowest level of acuity and as close to home as possible or in home if possible. Clinical pathways that have been and are being developed across the HSE are supporting that. That is the intention of planning. It is why the bulk of the winter funding went into home care support. The Deputy's point about the economics of that is well made. I agree that the best value and the best location of care are at home.

The ambulance service and transport issue in the mid-west is a good example of that. Mayo, Letterkenny and Tralee would have similar pressures in terms of accessing ambulance transport-----