asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that patients in need of hospital treatment have been refused admittance due to closure of wards and shortages of beds at Galway Regional Hospital; and the steps if any, he proposes to take to ensure that hospital services will be available to sick people when required.
Written Answers. - Galway Regional Hospital.
59.
The provision of hospital services at Galway Regional Hospital is a matter for the Western Health Board in the first instance.
The position at present is that the Western Health Board was heading for a deficit in 1988 and had to adopt certain temporary measures to enable it to remain within budget.
I am assured that the bed closures at Galway Regional Hospital which were introduced on 23 October and will remain in place until the end of this month will not affect emergency service and that anybody in need of necessary treatment will receive it. There will, however, be a reduction in the level of elective admissions but I should point out that for much of the period during which beds are closed the demand for elective admissions is quite low as patients are reluctant to seek admission to hospital in the run up to Christmas.
I expect the position at the hospital to return to normal from 1 January next.