James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The issues raised by the hospitals in the letter referred to by the Deputy will be considered in the context of the HSE plan for 2014. I wrote to the HSE last Thursday, 31 October, to confirm that the executive has until 15 November to submit its service plan. In that letter, I also conveyed to the executive that my overriding priority is patient safety, with the next priority being to treat patients in as timely a fashion as possible.

Clearly, 2014 will be a very challenging year for the health services. In meeting this challenge, the goal, wherever possible, is to cut the cost of services rather than the level or quality of the services delivered, and to accelerate the pace of reform. The reform programme for hospitals, as set out in Future Health, aims to deliver more responsive and equitable access to services for all patients, to organise public hospitals into more efficient and accountable hospital groups, which can deliver better patient care for less cost, and to ensure that smaller hospitals continue to play a key role.

It can be difficult to achieve the necessary reform while hospitals exist in isolation from one another. The formation of hospital groups, which I announced last May, will allow each group to manage its own affairs and operate with maximum autonomy. It will also ensure that the treatment required by patients is received at the most appropriate level in the most appropriate and safest setting.

I have now appointed chairs to all seven hospital groups, the process of recruitment of CEOs has commenced and the process of establishing a strategic advisory group to guide the reorganisation of services by hospital groups is under way. The overall aim is to provide efficient and effective care, as close to the patient's home as possible, with a view to improved health outcomes and satisfaction for patients.

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