Vol. 506 No. 2
281 Ms Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Health and Children if there is a current policy of segregating elderly patients aged 60 and over once they are admitted to general hospitals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15309/99]
There is no general policy of segregating elderly patients on admission to acute hospitals. Decisions on the appropriate accommodation for individual patients would be taken at local level in accordance with bed availability and the clinical judgment of the treating clinician. In the larger hospitals there would normally be some dedicated beds or wards under the control of a consultant geriatrician to which elderly patients under the care of that consultant would be admitted.
