Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)

I congratulate the Minister on his appointment and wish him well in his new role. He has an understanding of the issues affecting small local hospitals.

Patient safety must be the main priority. Does the Minister not agree that transporting patients for hours from small local hospitals that could treat them to regional super-centres, as have been proposed to date, is not necessarily the best approach in that it puts lives at risk? Will the Minister clarify the direction that has been given to the HSE on the roll-out of the reconfiguration process and the implications it will have for small hospitals from 1 July, bearing in mind the appointment of non-consultant hospital doctors in the new rotation and, specifically, the non-training posts? This issue should be addressed immediately with reference to the regional structure rather than leaving hospitals in a dire predicament from 1 July.

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