Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

There are five hospitals in the region and one third of their medical patients come to Dublin hospitals while half their surgical patients do so, which is an extraordinary statistic. Notwithstanding that, a person living in the north east is twice as likely to end up in hospital than in any other part of the country. There does not seem to be any reason for that. Whatever we are trying to do, best practice is involved. Sometimes we are in hospital unnecessarily, which is why it is so important to build up the community and primary care service around the country, where 95% of our health needs can be met. We have taken the advice of the expertise, specifically for new buildings. That is why the new children's hospital will consist of single rooms, as will the new site at St. Vincent's Hospital. That is the future.

With such a fragmented system, it was difficult to have the appropriate state-of-the-art laboratory facilities. It is about consolidating what we have rather than trying to put minor capital investments in all the various places and still not have the facilities we require. We listen to the expertise in this area. That is why I made C. difficile notifiable, and I accept that there are different strains, but that was only a couple of months ago. That was all based on the advice of the experts. We will soon have a new chief medical officer in the Department of Health and Children, as the position has been advertised. The current chief medical officer, Dr. Kiely, leaves today and I thank him for his service to the State. He is moving to the overseas development section of the Department of Foreign Affairs and I wish him well. The intention is that the new chief medical officer will head up the patient safety division within the Department, as heretofore the medical expertise was there on an advisory basis. That division will play an important role in giving the Government of the day appropriate advice on these issues.

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