Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 25: To ask the Minister for Health and Children her views on the recent case of a baby left in agony in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital for four days before being admitted to Crumlin; her views on whether there is a severe lack of paediatric bed capacity in hospitals here; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12072/07]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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My Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Health Service Executive to arrange to have the specific case investigated and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.

As the Deputy is aware, the development of a new National Paediatric Hospital is being overseen by a joint HSE/Department of Health and Children Transition Group. The current stage of the process involves the preparation of a high level framework brief for the new hospital. The brief is being developed for the Transition Group by Rawlinson Kelly & Whittlestone Ltd (RKW), an established UK-based health care planning company. RKW will be advising on a range of issues which will help to inform the design of the new hospital. They will be advising, for example, on the preferred model of care, on the core services to be delivered at the new hospital, the appropriate number of beds, and on the additional range of services to be provided outside of the main hospital through the urgent/ambulatory care service, and on the location(s) for this service, taking account of international best practice in the planning of children's hospital services.

Among other key items being addressed by the Group is the determination of co-ordination policies between the new hospital and other hospitals (including those outside of Dublin).

Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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Question 26: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the waiting times for acute hospital care for private patients and for public patients; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11997/07]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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Statutory responsibility for the collation, management and publication of data on waiting times for in-patient and day-case procedures for public patients rests with the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF). My Department has, therefore, asked the Chief Executive of the NTPF to reply directly to the Deputy in relation to the information requested in regard to public patients.

Information relating to the waiting times for private patients is not collected by my Department, the Health Services Executive or the National Treatment Purchase Fund.

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 27: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the discussions she has had with the Health Service Executive regarding the future of Our Lady's Hospital in Navan; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11816/07]

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 102: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the discussions she has had with the Health Service Executive regarding the configuration of hospital services in the north east region; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11808/07]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 27 and 102 together.

I am familiar with the approach being adopted by the Health Service Executive in seeking to improve safety and standards across the acute hospital network in the North East Region, having regard to the issues raised in the Teamwork Management Services Report — "Improving Safety and Achieving Better Standards — An Action Plan for Health Services in the North East".

The Teamwork Report included a number of recommendations to improve patient care in the region. It particularly highlighted the need to develop a high quality, responsive emergency and planned service, in line with international standards. It recommended that there be one major regional hospital in the North East, supported by the five existing local hospitals including Our Lady's Hospital, Navan. The new hospital is to provide emergency and trauma services on a 24 hour basis and also provide planned specialist procedures that are complex and require the facilities of a large regional hospital.

The HSE has given me an assurance that, in progressing the implementation of this report, there will be no discontinuation of existing services until suitable alternative arrangements have been put in place.

The hospital reconfiguration process is being overseen by the HSE Steering Group which is leading the project. No decision has been made to date on the location of the new hospital. A sub-committee of the Steering Group has been established to progress the issue of site selection. A tender for consultancy is to be awarded shortly for an independent site location study. The study will take account of various criteria including demographics, access, planning and development considerations and interdependencies.

The first step in the development of a fully integrated regional health service is to ensure that the people of the North East have local access to both routine planned care and immediate life saving emergency care. Over the next few years, in preparation for all acute emergency in-patient care and complex planned care being provided at a regional centre, services at the existing five hospitals will continue to be improved.