The Dublin Midlands Hospital Group has been working for some time on a draft plan for a new model of clinical service delivery at Portlaoise Hospital. A draft plan was submitted to my Department in December 2016. This draft report was reviewed in detail and was the subject of detailed engagement between Department officials and the HSE over the course of a number of months. Significant additional work was also undertaken by the HSE on foot of this engagement resulting in a revised draft plan that was submitted to my Department in September 2017.
It remains the case, as outlined at my meeting with the Deputy and the other Laois Oireachtas members in December 2017, that no decision has been made yet on the draft Action Plan for Portlaoise Hospital. I have asked my Department to conduct a consultation process in this regard early this year involving local clinicians and the community.