Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 211: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the position regarding the provision of an eight bed hospice unit at Roscommon County Hospital; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19393/08]

Máire Hoctor (Tipperary North, Fianna Fail)
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Operational responsibility for the management and delivery of health and personal social services was assigned to the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Therefore, the Executive is the appropriate body to consider the particular case raised by the Deputy. My Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to arrange to have the matter investigated and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 212: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the position regarding the provision of a 14 bed hospice unit at Mayo General Hospital; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19394/08]

Máire Hoctor (Tipperary North, Fianna Fail)
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Operational responsibility for the management and delivery of health and personal social services was assigned to the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Therefore, the Executive is the appropriate body to consider the particular case raised by the Deputy. My Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to arrange to have the matter investigated and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Question 213: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she will undertake an immediate review as recommended by the recent OECD report which suggests that the Government take a broader look at international systems, including systems that are similar in terms of their needs, in order to examine different patterns of hospital requirements in the north east; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19395/08]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The OECD review of the Irish Public Service report — Ireland Towards an Integrated Public Service — includes a health sector Case Study on the reconfiguration of hospital services in the North East. The OECD state that the Case Study does not purport to be a full analysis or review of wider issues relating to health care in Ireland or a commentary on health service provision generally in Ireland. The Report emphasises the need to deal with the reforms of primary and community care in tandem with the reconfiguration of hospitals if the overall vision is to be realised. In order to ensure the model is the optimum for the region, it suggests a broader examination of international systems. This would help identify how other countries have met the needs of areas with characteristics similar to the North East.

The OECD took the view that an examination could include the possibility of having two hospitals, one regional and one general, in the North East. It added that the outcome of such an examination could equally be a reaffirmation of the plan for one acute hospital for the region. The OECD findings will need to be carefully considered in the context of the Transformation Programme for the North East. No decisions have been made by the Government or by the Health Service Executive (HSE) on the future location of the new hospital.

The immediate focus of the Transformation Programme is to have acute and complex care moved from 5 to 2 hospital sites and to ensure that services in the region are organised to optimise patient safety. 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, the existing five hospitals will continue to improve services by further merger of their acute care specialties.