Áine Brady (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputy Howlin and I will be taking this Adjournment debate on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney.

Wexford General Hospital provides comprehensive acute services to the local population of 130,000 and to the thousands of tourists who visit Wexford each year. The hospital benefits from a committed workforce that, during 2009, will treat an estimated 63,900 patients. More than half of these will present as emergency department attendances. In addition, an estimated 56,730 will attend the hospital on an outpatient basis.

Wexford General Hospital has strong partnerships with colleagues working in primary, community and continuing care sectors and aims to provide patients with fully integrated services. In line with the National Service Plan 2009 and in accordance with the HSE transformation programme, the HSE will be reviewing the current configuration of acute hospital services in the south east. A steering group has been put in place to this end and is tasked with developing a plan for hospital reconfiguration that will deliver optimal, cost effective, easily and readily accessible and high quality services through centres of excellence. The membership of the steering group comprises the four clinical directors, one from each hospital, and the hospital network manager.

All hospitals in the south eastern hospital group, consisting of Wexford General Hospital, Waterford Regional Hospital, South Tipperary General Hospital and St. Luke's Hospital, Kilkenny, will be included in the plan for the revised model of care. In this regard, no decisions regarding the roles of services in any hospitals will be taken until this plan has been completed through a process of broad based consultation within the services.

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