Vol. 541 No. 2
564 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children if he has received a report from the Cork voluntary hospitals (details supplied) regarding their continued independence; and if so, if he will make a statement on the contents of the report. [22066/01]
565 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children if the voluntary hospitals in Cork, the South Infirmary and the Mercy Hospital will retain their right of direct access to the Department of Health and Children. [22067/01]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 564 and 565 together.
It is envisaged that from the beginning of 2002 there will be a change in the traditional method of funding of the Cork voluntary hospitals. These hospitals will no longer be funded directly from the Department of Health and Children but through the Southern Health Board. The report of the top level steering group on acute hospital services in Cork, set up to advise on a new model for funding, planning and management of hospital services in Cork city, was published on 26 July 2001. The report makes detailed recommendations about inter-hospital structures in order to ensure the provision of "a single service from multiple sites" in Cork. These recommendations envisage that overall planning issues of a strategic nature will be dealt with by an acute hospitals planning forum and the operational requirements of annual service planning will be dealt with by a service planning group. Intra-hospital structures will also be put in place to ensure that the needs of the voluntary hospitals are catered for in the service planning process.
