Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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Question 58: To ask the Minister for Health his plans to make additional resources available to the Cork University Hospital once the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital, Cork, closes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32981/11]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital, Cork is not closing.

In recent weeks, HSE South announced details of a reorganisation of acute hospital services in Cork City. This reorganisation is consistent with the plans that have been agreed for some time, which indicate that the South Infirmary would become an elective hospital. To achieve this and to protect elective surgical services in the hospital, the staged closure of the current emergency department in the South Infirmary is required.

Cork City currently has three acute hospitals with emergency departments open on a 24 hour basis – Cork University Hospital (CUH), Mercy University Hospital and South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital. All three hospitals are located within a one mile radius of the city centre. Only one of these hospitals, CUH, has access to a consultant in emergency medicine on a 24/7 basis.

The proposed reorganisation of services, including the phased closure of the emergency department in the South Infirmary follows a comprehensive consultation and communication process over the past three years. This consultation process culminated with the publication, in 2010, of a plan for the reorganisation of acute hospital services in Cork and Kerry.

The majority of patients attending the South Infirmary's ED are seen before 10.00pm. From December 2011, the ED will open from 10.00am to 10.00pm to accommodate peak presentation times during the winter months. There are approximately seven patients seen between 10.00pm and 10.00am per night in South Infirmary ED. When the 12 hour ED is introduced in December, these seven patients will be easily accommodated in the 24 hour EDs at the Mercy Hospital and CUH.

In April 2012, when the ED in the South Infirmary closes, patients will be streamed between the Acute Medical Unit (short stay and medical assessment) and the new Surgical Assessment Unit at CUH, the new Urgent Care Centre at St. Mary's, the EDs at CUH and the Mercy and the Cardiac Renal Centre at CUH. These emergency service developments will ensure that existing ED patients will be being treated in more appropriate settings, ensuring that there is more than adequate capacity for the patients seen at the South Infirmary ED in 2010.

The planned streamlining of emergency department services in Cork City will deliver the best care for patients, as they will receive the right care in the right place from the right person. When these planned changes are fully implemented, they will ensure that there is more capacity in ED services in 2012 than is currently available.

The exact resource requirements for each of these services are being reviewed to ensure that they are all adequately resourced.