Vol. 533 No. 3
186 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Health and Children the proposals he has to establish equity in the situation whereby patients living outside of Dublin remain as disadvantaged, when it comes to local access to medical specialists, as they were a decade ago (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8623/01]
The report of the Forum on Medical Manpower contains a number of recommendations aimed at the reform of the medical manpower system in this country, not just in terms of numbers employed but also for a more effective and flexible manpower structure to provide significant improvements in the level of patient care in public hospitals. The report is currently under consideration.
The Government is committed to redressing the geographic imbalance which has evolved over many years in our health services and the developments currently taking place under the national development plan at numerous hospitals in each health board area reflect this commitment. Furthermore, my Department is currently engaged in a major review of hospital bed capacity and this, when completed, will not only indicate total future bed requirements but will also indicate regional needs in this regard. While I acknowledge that many of our national specialties are located in the Dublin region, and this can be well justified in the interests of patients and quality of service, I should emphasise that current health policy lays great emphasis on equity of access, including geographic access.
