Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 37: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the action she has taken to address the ongoing issue of hospital patients being forced to wait, in some cases several days, on hospital trolleys; if an evaluation has been done to determine the underlying reasons for this continuing problem; if her attention has been drawn to the serious damage being done to the quality of hospital services and the risk to patients while this continues; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8577/06]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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My Department is in ongoing discussions with the Health Service Executive with regard to the need for improvement in the accident and emergency services, with a particular focus on reducing the numbers on trolleys and the waiting times for patients in individual hospitals.

There is a need to build on the existing action plan for accident and emergency services and, in particular, to adopt a more focused approach that concentrates on individual hospital performance. Arising from the discussions with the HSE, a number of proposals have been agreed, including provision for specific performance improvement targets for individual hospitals.