Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

I thank Senator Buttimer for raising this Adjournment matter which I will take on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney. Improving the delivery of accident and emergency services continues to be a top priority for the Government and the Health Service Executive. At national level, significant additional resources have been provided to address the problems which manifest in emergency departments. Among the developments which have taken place are additional public and private long-stay beds, additional home care packages and home help hours, major capital developments in emergency departments and the provision of acute medical assessment units and community intervention teams in Cork, Limerick and Dublin.

As Senator Buttimer knows, Cork city has three accident and emergency departments located at Cork University Hospital, the Mercy University Hospital, and the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital. These units are cross-covered by a team of consultants in emergency medicine.

Funding of €4.7 million for the provision of a new accident and emergency department at the Mercy University Hospital was included in the HSEs capital plan for 2006 to 2010. Building work on the new accident and emergency department was completed on schedule in January 2007. The work of equipping and commissioning the new facility was completed at the end of October 2007.

The new department consists of a large patient waiting area with a separate paediatric waiting area, a triage area, a three-bay minor treatment area, a ten-bay major treatment area, a two-bay resuscitation room with adjacent x-ray suite and a treatment, therapies and procedures room. The overall size of the new department is almost four times as large as the existing unit.

A total of 46 staff are assigned to the existing accident and emergency department at an annual cost of approximately €2.5 million. The staff complement includes the equivalent of 18 full-time nurses, one full-time consultant in emergency medicine, two registrars and seven senior house officers. The working of the existing department is underpinned by close working relationships with physiotherapists, a social worker, an occupational therapist, a radiographer, a pharmacist and psychiatry and other support services, including chaplains, security and housekeeping staff.

The original approval for the project included an additional revenue allocation of €400,000. I understand that in January 2007, the Mercy University Hospital submitted an application to the national hospitals office of the HSE for an additional 24.5 full-time staff for the new unit at a cost of almost €1.5 million. This would substantially increase the total running costs of the facility.

The HSE has indicated that it has been engaged in negotiations with the management at the Mercy University Hospital on how best to organise services so as to run the new department effectively. Last December, both sides agreed to an evaluation of the staffing requirement for the new facility in an effort to advance the issue. This process is under way and discussions are ongoing. A meeting between the HSE and hospital management took place on Monday, 21 April and a further series of meetings is scheduled for the coming weeks. I am hopeful that this process will advance matters and enable the opening of this new facility to proceed. I assure Senator Buttimer the contents of his contribution will be brought to the attention of senior management of the HSE.