James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

I am preparing a framework for the future development of smaller hospitals, which includes St. Columcille's, Loughlinstown. The HSE and my Department are working with the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, on the safety aspects concerned. As I stated earlier, consultation covering all the key stakeholders, including patients and public representatives, will be an integral part of the process. The three hospitals in the region, namely, St. Michael's, St. Columcille's and St. Vincent's, are working together with the HSE to ensure the appropriate level of service is provided in the best location to ensure clinical safety, quality and patient safety and to manage risk. As for the reconfiguration of emergency department services in the integrated service area, a project steering group is reviewing the current service provision and is in the process of generating proposals as to how the new service configuration will operate.

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