Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

I thank Senator McHugh for raising this matter and I am replying to it on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Martin. I was delighted by the Senator's statement that there is a top class hospital in Letterkenny and I know that the staff there work hard to ensure that it retains this status and that there are no accidents waiting to happen. However, I understand the Senator's concerns about the problems that exist at the hospital.

I must point out, in the first instance, that responsibility for Letterkenny General Hospital rests with the North Western Health Board. As the Senator is aware, the population of Donegal is served in the main by Letterkenny General Hospital which provides a full range of acute, support and diagnostic services.

In terms of its physical infrastructure, Letterkenny General Hospital was the subject of a major capital programme over 20 years ago with the construction of the multi-storey block. That was a significant development in terms of positioning the hospital to cope with the development of services during the 1980s and 1990s. During 2002, approval was given by the Department of Health and Children for the provision of an additional eight medical beds, which were commissioned and are fully operational. When the approval for these beds was notified, the Department indicated that there would be further discussions in relation to the requirement for further beds. Informal discussions have since taken place between the Department and the board on the question of further increasing bed capacity in the board's functional area generally.

Arising from these discussions, a proposal for the provision of additional interim beds in Letterkenny General Hospital has been submitted to the Department. This includes three distinct elements: the immediate provision of eight beds in the currently vacant new maternity-theatre extension; 18 beds to support new medical oncology-haematology specialties in the vacated renal unit; and 12 beds attached to the emergency department. This submission is being assessed by the Department.

It is understood from the board that the hospital has experienced an increase in demand for services in recent weeks, particularly in respect of its emergency medicine, accident and emergency, department. Measures implemented by the board to alleviate these pressures include the provision of additional medical support staff and the augmentation of nursing staff: It is also proposed in the board's service plan for 2004 to proceed with the appointment of an advanced nurse practitioner to the emergency department, which again will have a positive impact on services. The Senator will also be aware that approval was given by the Minister for Health and Children, under the winter initiative in 2000-01, for the appointment of a second emergency medicine consultant at the hospital.

An enhanced accident and emergency facility at Letterkenny is a key priority for the board. Approval has been given by the Department of Health and Children to the board to proceed with the planning of an extension to the department. Planning for this development is at an advanced stage and the board hopes to proceed to design brief stage in the coming months. The Minister is confident that this development will enhance and augment the services available to both staff and patients availing of the emergency department's services. The Senator may be assured that hospital management is working closely with medical and nursing staff in the emergency medicine department to address the difficulties being experienced.

I assure Senator McHugh that the Government will continue to invest in the development of high quality, equitable and accessible hospital services so that those availing of such services continue to receive timely and appropriate care.