Áine Brady (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

I am taking this Adjournment on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney. The way in which we deliver acute hospital services to our communities and their wider regions is changing. The expert advice is that when delivering complex care, patient outcomes are better where sufficient volumes of activity take place and where the appropriate necessary staff and equipment are available. The evidence also emphasises the need for the delivery of timely pre-hospital and emergency care in an appropriate setting for fewer complications and healthier lives.

Waterford Regional Hospital is a pivotal component in the provision of acute services in the south east. Within a budget of €145 million and with a staff of almost 1,800, the 2010 service plan for Waterford Regional Hospital sets out targets for the treatment of 21,000 inpatient cases, almost 20,000 day cases and in excess of 131,000 outpatient attendances. Significant investment continues at the hospital. The Minister for Health and Children recently opened the new cardiac catheterisation laboratory. Waterford Regional Hospital is now the designated regional cardiology intervention centre and it serves a catchment population of more than 460,000 people. The capacity of this service will be further developed as resources allow. This will assure Waterford's role as a major centre for the diagnosis and treatment of cardiac disease.

The hospital's design brief and development control plan provides for phased and integrated development on the campus and additional accommodation for future requirements. The plan includes provision for critical care facilities and high dependency and cancer services units. The HSE has approved the expansion of Waterford Regional Hospital emergency department at a cost of approximately €10 million, and construction is expected to begin soon.

Waterford Regional Hospital is one of the two designated specialist centres in the HSE south region under the national cancer control programme. Waterford will provide initial diagnosis and surgery for the region by multidisciplinary teams. Chemotherapy and routine follow-up will be provided locally, as appropriate, as will palliative care.

The Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, reported in September that Waterford's breast cancer service meets the key requirements in the national quality assurance standards on symptomatic breast disease. Rectal cancer surgery is also centralised at Waterford. A rapid access diagnostic clinic for lung cancer opened this year and a similar clinic for prostate cancer is planned. A palliative care consultant was appointed in September 2009. A hospice site has been identified on the hospital campus under the development control plan. This will be progressed with the Irish Hospice Foundation. For palliative care for children, the HSE intends to appoint a clinical nurse specialist. I am confident that Waterford Regional Hospital will continue to be a vital component in the delivery of health services across the south east.