Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 419: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the amount of funding allocated to Mallow General Hospital in County Cork in 2009; the budgetary allocation in respect of 2010; if she will confirm that no downgrading of this hospital will take place; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30791/09]

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 440: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the status of the reconfiguration of hospitals in the Health Service Executive south region, particularly with regard to Mallow General Hospital, County Cork; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30988/09]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I propose to take Questions Nos. 419 and 440 together.

The Government is committed to ensuring the delivery of the best quality health services possible, 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. The HSE commissioned Horwath Consulting Ireland, in association with Teamwork Management Services to carry out a review of acute hospital services in the HSE South, based on the principle of securing clinically safe and sustainable acute hospital services. The report was launched publicly on the 9 June 2009. Professor John Higgins has been appointed as Director of Reconfiguration of Acute Services, Cork & Kerry Region.

The Teamwork report proposes a single health care system for Cork and Kerry with the development of a new governance structure for the hospitals and community to encompass the relationship between the health care system and the third level educational sector (UCC, CIT, ITT). The principles that apply are that complex clinical care should be concentrated on the Cork University Hospital campus and that the other hospitals should where possible provide an expanded range of day surgery, diagnostic and out patient services. The reconfiguration process involves both enhancing primary care services and moving hospital services as close as practicable to people's homes.

It is clear that in this context hospitals will have to change significantly the type of services they provide and the way these are delivered. Reorganisation of services must of course occur in consultation with the key stakeholders and on an incremental basis. I believe that it is important to work with health professionals and other interested parties to secure an increasing set of improvements over time. As the detailed questions raised are service matters, they have been referred to the HSE for direct reply.