Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent)
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Question 536: To ask the Minister for Health, with regard to the ongoing collaborative study on smaller hospitals, the person who is leading this study; if any other persons are involved; the oversight and review structure mechanism for this study; if any external consultants are being used for the collaborative study; the terms of reference for the collaborative study; the timeframe for the collaborative study; and the reason the downgrading of the emergency department of St. Columcille's Hospital was announced before the conclusion of the collaborative study. [30163/11]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent)
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Question 537: To ask the Minister for Health, with regard to the ongoing collaborative study on smaller hospitals and any consultation ongoing as part of that process, or that will follow on from it, the person who is being or will be consulted as part of this consultation; the patient representative or public representative groups that are being or will be consulted; the elected public representatives that are being or will be consulted; the mechanism for persons or groups to feed into the consultation process; and the timeframe for the consultation process. [30164/11]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent)
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Question 539: To ask the Minister for Health the steps being taken to increase capacity at the emergency department at St. Vincent's Hospital, Dublin, in view of the recent numbers of patients on trolleys in the department; the steps being taken to ensure that the department is capable of dealing with the additional volume which will arise from the changes to St. Columcille's emergency department; the number of additional acute beds being made available in St. Vincent's Hospital to deal with the additional patient volume which will arise form the changes to St. Columcille's emergency department; and when these beds will be operational. [30166/11]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 536, 537 and 539 together.

There is a joint HSE/Departmental group which is developing a framework for the future development of smaller hospitals with oversight from a steering group comprising of HSE and Departmental officials. No external consultants are being used for this process. Consultation covering all the key stakeholders including patients and public representatives, will be an integral part of the process and plans for the consultations required are currently under development and are expected to be completed shortly.

The three hospitals in the region (St. Michael's, St. Columcille's and St. Vincent's) are working together with the HSE to ensure that the appropriate level of service is provided in the best location to ensure clinical safety, quality and patient safety and to manage risk. No downgrading of the emergency department at St Columcille's hospital has been announced. Work has been ongoing for a number of months and transfer of services from one site to another will not occur until all patient safety issues and clinical issues are fully considered. Any future changes will take place within the context of the Clinical Programmes and the developing Framework for smaller hospitals.