asked the Minister for Health the number of county hospitals which have a catchment area of (a) 100,000 patients and (b) 70,000 patients at the present time; where these hospitals are situated; and the number of patients in the catchment areas of the remaining county hospitals.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Hospital Catchment Areas.
5.
I take it that the Deputy's reference to "patients" was meant to be "population".
There is no strict definition of population catchment area for county hospitals but, as their name implies, they were intended initially to serve the county where they were located. With the establishment of the eight health boards to cover the country, county boundaries became less significant for health purposes, with the result that county hospitals may now draw some of their patients from different areas than in the past.
For this reason, I cannot reply fully to the question asked by the Deputy but I would propose to circulate, with the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, information in the Official Report about county hospital location and the census populations of the different counties in 1971.
Following is the information requested:—
|
Health Board Area |
Counties |
Location of County Hospital |
Population (1971) |
|
|
Eastern |
Dublin |
— |
852,219 |
(including County borough) |
|
Wicklow |
Naas |
66,295 |
||
|
Kildare |
Naas |
71,977 |
||
|
Midland |
Laois |
Portlaoise |
45,259 |
|
|
Longford |
Longford |
28,250 |
||
|
Offaly |
Tullamore |
51,829 |
||
|
Westmeath |
Mullingar |
53,570 |
||
|
Mid-Western |
Clare |
Ennis |
75,008 |
|
|
Limerick |
— |
140,459 |
(including County borough) |
|
|
Tipperary N.R. |
Nenagh |
54,337 |
||
|
North-Eastern |
Cavan |
Lisdara |
52,618 |
|
|
Cavan |
||||
|
Louth |
Dundalk |
74,951 |
||
|
Meath |
Navan |
71,729 |
||
|
Monaghan |
Monaghan |
46,242 |
||
|
North-Western |
Donegal |
Letterkenny |
108,344 |
|
|
Leitrim |
Manorhamilton |
28,360 |
||
|
Sligo |
Sligo |
50,275 |
||
|
South Eastern |
Carlow |
— |
34,327 |
|
|
Kilkenny |
Kilkenny |
61,473 |
||
|
Tipperary S.R. |
Cashel |
69,228 |
||
|
Clonmel |
||||
|
Waterford |
Ardkeen |
77,315 |
(including County borough) |
|
|
Wexford |
Wexford |
86,351 |
||
|
Enniscorthy |
||||
|
Southern |
Cork |
Bantry |
48,173 (West Cork) |
|
|
Mallow |
(North Cork) |
(North Cork) |
||
|
Kerry |
Tralee |
112,772 |
||
|
Western |
Galway |
— |
149,223 |
|
|
Mayo |
Castlebar |
109,525 |
||
|
Roscommon |
Roscommon |
53,519 |