The Minister for Health Dr James Reilly TD, today (Tuesday, 19th April
2011) welcomed the report of the Health and Information Quality Authority
(HIQA) on services at Mallow General Hospital.
The Minister said that the conclusions of the report were a very important
contribution to driving further improvement in the quality and safety of
acute hospital services. He noted that the report’s findings were relevant
not only to Mallow but to the delivery of services in all acute hospitals.
The Minister said:
“This report underlines the need for the HSE to recognise the
implications in the previous HIQA Ennis report, for all hospitals of
a similar size. Both reports deal in particular with the type of
services that can safely be provided in smaller hospitals, and with
the structures required for good governance and accountability. The
HSE must ensure that this happens and I will be monitoring the
situation closely in conjunction with HIQA.”
The Minister reiterated his support for expanding the services that could
be provided in smaller hospitals. He said:
“I am strongly committed to developing the role of smaller hospitals
in Ireland so that they play a key part in the services provided to
local communities. Local hospitals can and should be a vibrant
element of local health services, providing treatment and care at the
appropriate level of complexity to the patients in their area.
Patients should only have to travel to the larger hospitals for more
complex services. HIQA’s report on the situation at Mallow is
entirely in keeping with this approach”.
The Minister thanked HIQA for its work in supporting the drive for improved
quality and patient safety.