Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 May 2004
258 Mr. Cuffe asked the Minister for Health and Children if he intends to ensure that St. Columcille’s Hospital, Loughlinstown, County Dublin continues as a 24-hour consultant-led accident and emergency hospital. [13217/04]
View answer259 Mr. Cuffe asked the Minister for Health and Children if the €50 million promised to St. Colmcille’s Hospital, Loughlinstown, County Dublin, prior to the general election of 2002 is being spent to ensure that the hospital is brought up to date within three years. [13218/04]
View answer260 Mr. Cuffe asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will take steps to ensure that the scanning facility in St. Columcille’s Hospital, Loughlinstown, County Dublin, will be fully operational seven days a week; if a full paediatric and geriatric service is provided; and if the situation whereby patients are been held on trollies will be ended shortly. [13219/04]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 258 to 260, inclusive, together.
Responsibility for the provision of services at St. Columcille's Hospital, Loughlinstown, rests with the Eastern Regional Health Authority. My Department has, therefore, asked the regional chief executive of the authority to investigate the detailed operational issues raised by the Deputy and to reply to him directly.
The report of the national task force on medical staffing — Hanly — envisages St. Columcille's Hospital being developed as a local hospital. The report recommends investment in local hospitals such as St. Columcille's so that they are in a position to provide most of the local population's needs for hospital care. Improvements proposed include a greatly expanded proportion of elective day surgery and elective medical procedures for the region in a range of specialties — this will involve an increasing volume of elective procedures that are often currently performed in the larger hospitals; a strong focus for locally accessible multi-specialist day and out-patient, OPD, care; pre and post-natal maternity services; a point of access for general practitioners to services and diagnostic facilities and rehabilitation and long-stay care.
Implementation of the report in the East Coast Area Health Board will ultimately involve the appointment of an additional 129 consultants to the region, many of whom will provide services in local hospitals, including St Columcille's. A group is being established to prepare a detailed action plan for the implementation of the Hanly recommendations in the east coast area, including assessing the staffing and capital requirements.
Finally, with regard to the Deputy's statement concerning €50 million promised to St. Columcille's Hospital prior to the general election in 2002, neither I nor any of my colleagues in Government made any such commitment.
