While no discussions have taken place to date regarding the matters referred to by the Deputy, these and other issues may be considered by the acute hospitals review group as part of its work. At present I have no plans to designate any hospitals as general hospitals nor to reconfigure acute hospital services so that any one of the hospitals referred to by the Deputy delivers only elective work. However, the acute hospitals review group may wish to consider these and other issues.
As the Deputy will be aware, I announced the composition of the acute hospitals review group at the end of January. The group contains a wide range of expertise from the areas of medicine, nursing, health and social care professions and management. It also includes an expert in spatial planning and representation of the public interest.
It has been asked to prepare a plan for the interim health services executive for the reorganisation of acute hospital services, taking account of the recommendations of the national task force on medical staffing including spatial, demographic and geographic factors. During its consultation process, the group will meet with hospital, health agency and health board staff as required.
To date, the acute hospitals review group has not met because of the continued industrial action on the part of the Irish Hospital Consultants' Association. I hope that all parties return to the table to progress the work of this group as soon as possible.
