Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 144: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the position regarding a person (details supplied) in County Wicklow; if they will be seen as a matter of urgency; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27905/08]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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I understand that the Deputy has received a response from the Health Service Executive in this particular case. The matter has been referred for further consideration to the HSE and for direct reply to the Deputy.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 145: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the status of the implementation plan for the transfer of surgery and accident and emergency services from Roscommon County Hospital; when a detailed implementation plan will be published; the funding which has been ring-fenced to facilitate this plan on a capital and current basis; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27908/08]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The Government is committed not only to ensuring the delivery of the best quality health services possible but to doing so in an effective and efficient way. Ensuring patient safety is of paramount importance, so that people can have confidence in the services and that the best possible patient outcomes can be achieved. It is essential that we prioritise patient safety and quality and that we organise and manage services accordingly. The priority is to provide safe services as close as possible to where people live.

In the past, Roscommon County Hospital and Portiuncula Hospital Ballinasloe have operated independently, with two consultant general surgeons in each hospital. The difficulties faced by Roscommon and Portiuncula in maintaining surgical services independently, and the need for closer co-operation between them, were highlighted by the former Comhairle na nOspidéal in March 2006. Advances in clinical care and ever-increasing levels of specialisation mean that the present model of care faces important practical difficulties, which we must address. Small stand-alone hospital services will not be able to offer their doctors the opportunity to treat a sufficient volume and variety of patients to maintain their skills, nor will they be able to provide the range of experience required for doctors during training. As a result, it will prove increasingly difficult, and perhaps impossible, to fill consultant posts in these hospitals on a permanent basis.

In the light of these factors, the best way of retaining and developing services at Roscommon and Portiuncula hospitals is for these hospitals to work closely together. I am confident that the development of joint departments of surgery and anaesthesia at the hospitals will provide a better service for patients of both hospitals. The Health Service Executive is in the process of undertaking a detailed planning and consultation process with stakeholders on how best to implement the proposed changes to how services are organised at the two hospitals. This will include examining the most appropriate arrangements for providing accident and emergency services. The resource implications of any new service configuration in revenue and capital terms will be considered in the context of the planning exercise which I have described.