Áine Brady (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

Patient safety, as a guiding principle for change, is aimed at achieving the best outcomes for patients. The best outcomes for the population will be achieved when complex care is provided in specialised centres where all of the necessary expertise, which is maintained by way of day-to-day experience in treating a range of patient's problems and facilities, is immediately available. At the same time, the changing nature of health service delivery is such that smaller hospitals can meet much of the demand for less complex services, especially those that are increasingly done on a day case basis.

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