Pat Gallagher (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

The developments also include major capital developments in emergency departments, the provision of acute medical assessment units, a hospital-in-the-home service in the greater Dublin area, rapid assessment clinics to support the catchment population of the Mater Hospital, and an expansion of the GP out-of-hours services in north Dublin.

In terms of waiting times, a revised target of 12 hours waiting, from decision to admit, was introduced in October last year. This built on an initial maximum target waiting time of 24 hours. The HSE has advised that the majority of patients in the accident and emergency unit at University College Hospital Galway have been admitted within 12 hours since the 12-hour target was introduced. The HSE is also committed to monitoring and reporting on the total length of time patients spend in emergency departments, irrespective of whether they are admitted. A number of hospitals have commenced reporting this information and the HSE expects to be in a position to publish data on up to 18 hospitals in the next few months.

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