Hospital Services.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 27 September 2006

Wednesday, 27 September 2006

Questions (707)

Róisín Shortall

Question:

773 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Health and Children the position regarding the policy in respect of the person who unexpectedly avails of acute hospital services in a region other than their regions of residence and the areas in which that person subsequently wants to access nursing home or rehabilitation services in their home region; the procedures for the transfer of Health Service Executive responsibility for such a patient from one region to another; the reason for the extreme administrative difficulties which a person (details supplied) in Dublin 9 is encountering, who is currently in an acute bed in Limerick Regional Hospital and who is seeking to transfer to step-down facilities in the Dublin region. [29826/06]

Written answers

Minister for Health and Children (Ms Harney)

The Deputy's question relates to the management and delivery of health and personal social services, which are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004.

I would expect that patient preference would be taken into account in such circumstances, and my Department has asked the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to investigate this case and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.