Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

I thank Senator O'Donovan for raising this matter. I am replying on behalf of my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Reilly. We are all aware that the health sector is facing significant funding challenges this year. However, the Minister is determined that the impact on services will be minimised by following best practice and through reform in the way services are delivered.

The service plan for this year reflects the programme for Government commitments for health and the savings targets set out in the Comprehensive Expenditure Report 2012-2014. With the scale of the financial challenge facing the HSE, there will be an inevitable and unavoidable reduction in services, but it will not be a straight line reduction. Bantry General Hospital, similar to other acute hospitals, must face this challenge of reduced budgets and align its 2012 activity and services with the budget allocated.

This year, the HSE south will continue its programme of reorganising acute hospital resources in Cork and Kerry to ensure the best possible outcomes for patients. Bantry hospital is actively participating in the clinical programmes, which will enable the hospital to maximise activity while reducing overall cost. These programmes provide a national, strategic and co-ordinated approach to a wide range of clinical services.

With regard to the Senator's query on bed closures, the HSE has informed the Department of Health that there are currently no plans to reduce bed capacity in Bantry hospital. The hospital management is aware of the retirement or resignation of seven whole-time equivalent staff in the hospital this year. Work has been under way since last autumn to prepare for this reduction, and the regional service plan of HSE south takes this into account. Furthermore, HSE south and the hospital management are seeking to mitigate the impact of the retirements on front-line services in a number of different ways. These include using the public service agreement to bring about greater flexibility in work practices and rosters, redeployment and other changes to achieve more efficient delivery of services. Some limited and targeted recruitment in priority areas will take place to help limit the impact of retirements on front-line services. Examples include a theatre nurse manager to secure the surgery service and a senior medical scientist to ensure continuity of the laboratory service. In response to the Senator's third query, hospital management is not aware of any other post that will be lost in the system at this time that may adversely affect the staff of the hospital.

The role of services in Bantry will be progressed as part of the Government's national framework for the reorganisation of small hospitals. In developing this framework the Government is clear that there is an important future role for smaller hospitals, in which they will provide services for more patients. The framework is expected to be submitted to the Cabinet shortly.

The main focus of the reorganisation of services at Bantry is the transfer of remaining complex surgery to Cork city, with a reciprocal transfer of day case surgery to Bantry. Surgical and medical specialties will also transfer outpatient work to Bantry. This will broaden the range of outreach services available to patients closer to home. A dedicated patient transport service is due to be made available in Bantry from mid-April. I hope this addresses the issues raised.