Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 39 and 87 together.

I have no plans to close any acute hospital. My priority is to ensure all acute hospital services are delivered to the highest standard of quality and safety to patients and in the most efficient way possible.

My aim is to make certain that we provide the right type of acute care in the right type of hospital. There is an abundance of expert medical advice that small hospitals with low patient volumes should not provide very complex forms of treatment. The best outcomes for the population will be achieved where complex care is provided in specialised centres where all of the necessary clinical expertise and facilities are immediately available. At the same time, developments in health care mean that smaller hospitals can meet much of the demand for less complex services, especially those that are increasingly carried out on a day case basis.

The review of acute hospital services for the HSE South by Teamwork consultants has recently been completed and will inform HSE plans for the reorganisation of acute hospital services in the region. The objective of the HSE is to ensure that there is a clinically safe and sustainable model of care. One of the key elements of reconfiguration will involve developing smaller hospitals to provide a much greater proportion of less complex care, especially in day surgery, medicine and diagnostics. With this in mind, I am confident that Mallow General Hospital will continue to play an important part in the provision of acute health care in the southern region.

I am pleased Professor John Higgins, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at Cork University Maternity Hospital, has accepted the appointment of clinical project director for the reconfiguration process in the HSE South. The HSE will consult with key stakeholders in the region and Professor Higgins has commenced his work in this regard. The HSE proposes to publish the Teamwork review following the completion of the initial phase of this consultation process.

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