Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 11 Apr 2000

Vol. 517 No. 6

Written Answers. - Hospital Services.

Bernard Allen

Question:

220 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children the hospitals who were involved in the casemix scheme which financially awards the economic use of beds; and the steps, if any, he has taken to ensure that more hospitals get involved in the scheme. [10427/00]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Martin):

Casemix is an internationally accepted management system for the monitoring and evaluation of health services and, was introduced by my department in 1993, after several years preparation, to allow for the collection, categorisation and interpretation of hospital patient data related to the types of cases treated, in the hope that it would assist hospitals to define their products, measure their productivity, and assess quality.

The key benefit of casemix measurement is the extent to which it provides a common language for service planning, management and development, that is meaningful to both clinicians and managers, and facilitates cost comparison, clinical audit, strategic services needs identification and planning, and the collection of meaningful epidemiological data. As such, I fully support its implementation, expansion and development, and am committed to increasing the number and type of hospitals involved in the scheme.

The hospitals which currently participate in the national casemix programme are set out in the following table. Hospitals participate in the programme when their information and costing systems are considered adequate to meaningfully reflect their activity and costs. Work is ongoing between my Department and a range of hospitals, which do not currently participate in casemix, in order to establish an appropriate time frame for their participation.

Casemix Hospitals–2000

Beaumont

Cavan General

Cork University

Regional Orthopaedic, Croom

Louth County, Dundalk

James Connolly Memorial

Letterkenny General

Limerick Regional

Longford/Westmeath (Mullingar)

Our Lady of Lourdes, Drogheda

Mallow General

Mater

Mayo General, Castlebar

Mercy, Cork

Merlin Park, Galway

Monaghan General

Navan General

Portiuncula

Portlaoise General

Sligo General

Casemix Hospitals–2000

South Infirmary/Victoria

St Columcilles, Loughlinstown

St Luke's, Kilkenny

St Mary's Orthopaedic, Cork

St James's

St. Vincent's

Tralee General

Tullamore General

U.C.H. Galway

Waterford Regional

Wexford General

Hospitals participate in the programme when their information and costing systems are considered adequate to meaningfully reflect their activity and costs. Work is ongoing between my Department and a range of hospitals, which do not currently participate in casemix, to establish an appropriate timeframe for their participation.