Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 10 Mar 1998

Vol. 488 No. 4

Written Answers - Accident and Emergency Services.

Frances Fitzgerald

Ceist:

184 Ms Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Health and Children the services, if any, he intends to provide for the south inner city area of Dublin in relation to accident and emergency services and general hospital services for children, in view of the opening of Tallaght Hospital and the closure of the Harcourt Street, Meath and Adelaide hospitals. [6269/98]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Cowen)

Following the transfer of the Meath, Adelaide and National Children's Hospital to Tallaght on 21 June next, acute hospital services, including accident and emergency services, will continue to be provided from St. James's Hospital, St. Vincent's Hospital, Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin, the Children's Hospital, Temple Street and the Mater Hospital.

The Eastern Health Board's working group on the south inner city primary care needs assessment identified the problems likely to arise following the relocation of existing services to Tallaght and it recommended the establishment of a primary care centre and the enhancement of general practice and community services in the south inner city, with the primary care centre acting as a central focus for the organisation and delivery of services encompassing the full range of health care and administrative needs for primary care services in the area.

The Eastern Health Board is also involved in a major exercise mapping the geographical patterns of patient flows into existing accident and emergency departments, the purpose of which is to provide information and make recommendations on the requirements of the south inner city area for accident and emergency ambulance purposes.

As the Deputy is aware, the factors which determine levels of attendance at accident and emergency departments are complex and difficult to predict and it is likely that clearer patterns will emerge in the six to nine months following the new hospital's opening. The shift in the patterns of accident and emergency attendances, including paediatric attendances, following the opening of the new hospital at Tallaght will be carefully monitored by the Eastern Health Board and any subsequent recommendations will be fully considered in my Department.