Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Health the current status of the small hospitals framework; if he will provide a list of the hospitals included in the framework; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13768/13]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I plan to publish, with Government approval, Securing the Future of Smaller Hospitals: A Framework for Development to offer clear information about the role of our smaller hospitals and what they will do in the future.

While the Framework focusses in particular on the role of nine smaller hospitals, named below, which have been the subject of particular attention from the HIQA, the principles behind it will apply to all smaller hospitals, regardless of whether or not they are specifically referenced.

Dublin North East:

- Our Lady’s Hospital Navan

- Louth County Hospital Dundalk

Dublin Mid Leinster:

- St. Colmcille’s Loughlinstown

South:

- Mallow

- Bantry

West:

- Ennis

- Nenagh

- St. John’s Limerick

- Roscommon County Hospital

In developing the framework to address the development of smaller hospitals, this Government is clear that:

-there is an important future role for smaller hospitals, in which they will provide services for more patients, not fewer

-no acute hospital will close, and

-safety issues in all acute hospitals, large or small, must be fully addressed, by providing the right type of service, for the right patient in the right setting.

This Framework will demonstrate clearly that the future of smaller hospitals is secure. It will set out what services can and should be delivered safely by these hospitals in the interest of better outcomes for patients.