Vol. 470 No. 5
74 Ms O'Donnell asked the Minister for Health the reason Louth County Hospital, with a catchment area of 70,000 has no paediatric facility in view of the fact that the nearest children's unit is a distance of 40 miles in some areas in County Louth and in view of the recent disquiet regarding delays in transporting sick children to hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19551/96]
Limerick East): The North-Eastern Health Board's policy document, A New Direction for Acute Hospital Services, which was adopted by the board in 1993, recommended the establishment of two hospital groupings, the Cavan/Monaghan group and the Louth/Meath group.
The Louth/Meath group, which consists of the three acute hospitals at Drogheda, Dundalk and Navan, operates as a co-ordinated, complementary grouping, which provides an extensive range of services to the region.
When the board's policy for acute hospitals was adopted, it was decided that paediatric services would be developed at the International Missionary Training Hospital, Our Lady of Lourdes, Drogheda to cover the Louth/Meath catchment area. My Department has fully endorsed the board's policy in this regard, and in 1995 I approved a consultant neonatologist and a consultant paediatrician post for the Louth/Meath region. My Department has also provided substantial funding, over the past two years, for the necessary infrastructural support for these posts.
Sick children are admitted to the paediatric unit at the International Missionary Training Hospital, Drogheda, which has a complement of three paediatricians, one of whom is a neonatologist. Paediatric outreach services, including day services and out-patient clinics are provided at Louth County Hospital, Dundalk, which includes the examination of newborn babies. Outreach services to County Meath will commence in December 1996.
