Written Answers. - Hospital Services.
Frances Fitzgerald
Ceist:
20
Ms Fitzgerald
asked the
Minister for Health and Children
whether it is intended to revise the plans of his Department and the Eastern Health Board regarding the future of the Meath Hospital, Dublin 8, in order to retain a hospital in the centre of the city to provide the essential services which the local community wish to have retained.
[10141/98]
Gay Mitchell
Ceist:
29
Mr. G. Mitchell
asked the
Minister for Health and Children
whether it is intended to revise the plans of his Department and the Eastern Health Board regarding the future of the Meath Hospital, Dublin 8, in order to retain a hospital in the centre of the city to provide the essential services which the local community wish to have retained.
[10142/98]
Alan Shatter
Ceist:
102
Mr. Shatter
asked the
Minister for Health and Children
whether it is intended to revise the plans of his Department and the Eastern Health Board regarding the future of the Meath Hospital, Dublin 8, in order to retain a hospital in the centre of the city to provide the essential services which the local community wish to have retained.
[10277/98]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 20. 29 and 102 together.
The new hospital at Tallaght will incorporate the services currently being provided at the Adelaide Hospital, the Meath Hospital and the National Children's Hospital, Harcourt Street. In addition, acute psychiatric services currently being provided at St. Loman's hospital will also transfer to Tallaght.
I am aware of the concerns felt by many people in the south inner city at the closure of the Meath Hospital. However, since agreement was reached on the development of the new hospital in Tallaght, it has always been understood that the three constituent hospitals would close once the new hospital is opened. The new hospital will serve the large population of Tallaght and its surroundings which up to now has had, in many instances, to travel considerable distances for hospital care.
More than 20,000 of the accident and emergency attendances at St. James's Hospital come from areas which will be served by the new hospital at Tallaght. This is greater than the existing accident and emergency attendances from the inner city areas at the Meath Hospital. A similar situation exists with regard to out patient attendances. In these circumstances, I am satisfied that St. James's Hospital will be able to meet the acute needs of the adult population in the south inner city while paediatric services will be provided by both Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin and The Children's Hospital, Temple Street.
In addition, the Eastern Health Board is providing a range of services for older people in the south inner city. A 25 bed community nursing unit which has respite, extended care and day care facilities, is operating at Sir Patrick Dun's Hospital. A 50 bed community nursing unit which provides similar services is located at the South Circular Road. In addition, St. Monica's, a 40 bed long stay unit at Belvedere Place in the North Inner City, has now come on stream. The Eastern Health Board is also developing proposals to provide secondary rehabilitation, extended care and day hospital facilities for older people living in the area. It is intended to enhance the primary care services in the area in conjunction with the local GPs and other health care professionals. This will include the establishment of additional community ward teams.
The Eastern Health Board is also involved in a major exercise mapping the geographical patterns of patient flows into 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. The factors which determine levels of attendances 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 pattern of accident and emergency attendances, including paediatric attendances, will be carefully monitored by the Eastern Health Board and any subsequent recommendations will be fully considered in this Department.
In these circumstances, I am satisfied that St. James's Hospital, in association with the other acute care providers in the city, will continue to meet the needs of the south inner city population following the opening of the hospital in Tallaght.
