Pat Rabbitte
Question:130 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Health and Children the plans he has for the future of Mallow Hospital, County Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6425/04]
View answerThursday, 26 February 2004
Questions (131)
Written answers
The Deputy will be aware that the provision of services at Mallow General Hospital is a matter for the Southern Health Board.
The national task force on medical staffing — Hanly report — concluded that the reorganisation of acute hospital services is needed to implement a consultant-provided service based on consultants working in teams and, as required under the European working time directive, to reduce the average working hours of non-consultant hospital doctors.
In this regard I recently announced the composition of the acute hospitals review group. The group, to be chaired by Mr. David Hanly, will build on the work done by the national task force on medical staffing. The acute hospitals review group will prepare a plan for the interim health services executive for the reorganisation of acute hospital services, taking account of the recommendations of the Hanly report including spatial, demographic and geographic factors. The role of all acute hospitals, including Mallow Hospital, will be examined in this context.