James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Question 71: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the reason a 25-bed ward at Our Lady's Hospital, Crumlin, Dublin 12 remains closed in view of the fact that seriously ill children are waiting more than a year for treatment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10462/10]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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Each hospital funded by the HSE is required to deliver services within the financial allocation provided. In common with all hospitals, Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin is faced with the challenge of delivering a high quality service to its patients, while remaining within budget.

The priority of the HSE and hospital management at Our Lady's Children's Hospital is to ensure that services at the hospital are maintained at an optimum level and to protect patient care. The HSE is involved in ongoing discussions with hospital management regarding its 2010 financial allocation and Service Plan and the exact services to be provided in the hospital during the year will be addressed in this context.

The HSE is pursuing ways in which services across the three Dublin paediatric hospitals can best be coordinated, to avoid unnecessary duplication and to achieve savings that can be put back into patient care. A Paediatric Hospitals Operations Group has now been established for ongoing network management and enhanced integration of the three paediatric hospitals in advance of the transfer to the new paediatric hospital.