Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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Question 457: To ask the Minister for Health if he will give an assurance that the accident and emergency department of Letterkenny General Hospital, County Donegal will be allocated the necessary non-consultant hospital doctors to ensure that it continues to operate on a 24 hour per day basis. [19992/11]

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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Question 458: To ask the Minister for Health his views that the budget allocated to Letterkenny General Hospital, County Donegal is adequate to ensure the level of service required of a hospital with the population and patient catchment it serves. [19993/11]

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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Question 459: To ask the Minister for Health his views that it is acceptable for management at Letterkenny General Hospital to have to cancel outpatient clinics regularly in order to meet his budget requirements and that of the Health Service Executive and the Government. [19994/11]

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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Question 460: To ask the Minister for Health his views that it is acceptable for management at Letterkenny General Hospital, County Donegal to have to postpone or suspend elective surgeries such as joint replacements continuously to meet his budget requirements and that of the Health Service Executive and the Government. [19995/11]

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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Question 461: To ask the Minister for Health his views that it is acceptable for management at Letterkenny General Hospital, County Donegal to have to place patients on trolleys in the accident and emergency department regularly because of the lack of beds available in the hospital due to its need to meet the budget requirements of the Health Service Executive and the Government. [19996/11]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 457 to 461, inclusive, together.

The HSE National Service Plan 2011 which was approved in December 2010 requires the HSE to operate within the limits of its voted allocation of €13.456 billion. This represents a net reduction of €683m on the 2010 provision. The HSE National Service Plan also commits the HSE to delivering service levels for 2011 which are broadly in line with 2010 levels. Letterkenny General Hospital like all other hospitals is required to operate within its budget of almost €95 million for 2011 and to meet the service level activity targets that the hospital has agreed for 2011.

The admission of patients presenting as emergencies through the A&E Department at Letterkenny is undertaken as promptly as possible and any delays in the emergency department for admission to a bed minimised. This focus on managing the emergency workload is reflected in the excellent rating on Healthstat that Letterkenny General Hospital continues to receive when compared with other peer hospitals. Every effort is made by the Hospital to avoid the cancellation of out patients clinics and the deferral of elective surgery. However on occasion this may be unavoidable. In the first six months of 2011 only one out patient clinic a month on average was affected.

I am determined to address the issues which cause unacceptable delays in patients receiving treatment in our hospitals. In this regard I have established the Special Delivery Unit (SDU), which will work to unblock access to acute services by dramatically improving the flow of patients through the system, and by streamlining waiting lists, including referrals from GPs.

In relation to issues around the recruitment of NCHDs, I have been informed by the HSE that arrangements are in place to ensure that services are maintained. While it is not expecting any service curtailment, it will continue to monitor the position closely in hospitals where there have been difficulties in filling posts. Externally recruited doctors will be placed to support continuing service provision.