Harney reiterates support for Hanly

The Tánaiste has reiterated her support for the controversial Hanly report on regional health development. Ms Harney, Minister for Health said the State had to provide hospital services for "the needs of our population as we are, in each region of the country".

She said that since she became Minister, many people had told her that hospitals and doctors could work in networks so that patients received top quality care from experienced professionals.

"We can in fact deliver top quality hospital care for the people in each region of our country, if we build our services on a regional basis. This is the essential vision behind the Hanly report."

The report was not one "about taking services away from people, much less about closing down hospitals. It is about how to deliver top quality services for people in each region of the country. It is not about centralising services, but about removing the need for people to travel outside their region for services."

Health services development could not mean "a few mega hospitals in Dublin, nor a full-service acute hospital in every town in the land. What we need is in between those two extremes."

She was speaking during a Fine Gael private members motion on the North Eastern Health Board, during which the party's spokesman, Dr Liam Twomey, asked why the Government had failed to review the NEHB in light of the tragic events at hospitals in its area, and for the proper resourcing of the Cavan-Monaghan group of hospitals. The Minister said "the Government is not asking people to believe in a report. Rather, we will act to put in place the services people need on a regional basis."

But Labour's Ms Liz McManus said that the Minister's view of the Hanly report did not reflect the reality. The report's impact would mean no full A & E service on the east coast between St Vincent's hospital in Dublin and Waterford in the south-east.

Ms Harney was "deliberately being woolly or is reflecting a view of what Hanly is not".