Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)

Roscommon County Hospital provides an important range of elective and emergency services and treats cases on both an inpatient and a day case basis. Like a number of other hospitals, Roscommon County Hospital has experienced difficulties in recruiting non-consultant hospital doctors during the normal six monthly rotation in January 2011. This is not a staff moratorium or financial issue; smaller non-training hospitals like Roscommon County Hospital are finding it increasingly difficult to attract the number of non-consultant doctors required to maintain all services as structured at present.

The HSE has assured me that, in the light of these difficulties, it will employ all possible measures to address the staffing issues, including continued recruitment efforts and the use of nursing and other supports from Merlin Park University Hospital and Portiuncula Hospital, to maintain the 24-hour emergency service provided at Roscommon County Hospital.

The HSE is in the process of devising a reorganisation programme for hospital services in Galway and Roscommon. This will be informed by the HSE report on the national acute medicine programme, which was published in December. As a first step, in 2010 a clinical director was appointed to manage Galway University Hospital, Merlin Park University Hospital, Portiuncula Hospital and Roscommon County Hospital as one integrated service, to provide additional support to the hospitals concerned and to ensure that care is delivered on a safe and sustainable basis.

A reorganisation project group has been established to develop a plan for services in Roscommon and Galway. Following consultations with key stakeholders including clinicians, senior managers and directors of nursing across the three hospitals, a reorganisation plan will be developed by the group. A clinical lead will be identified in the coming weeks and a project manager will be appointed to co-ordinate and drive planning and implementation. It is expected that an agreed detailed plan will be available in the course of 2011.

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