Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 23 October 2019

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health

Sláintecare Implementation Strategy: Discussion

Photo of Stephen DonnellyStephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have two quick questions. The figure of 2,600 beds comes from the capacity review.

The review describes this figure as an extreme requirement, not the likely requirement. It is the minimum conceivable number. If everything in the world worked exactly right, at the right time and infinite resources were available to do everything else, 2,600 beds would be needed. The review states, however, that up to 7,200 beds would be needed. Experts have informed me that the number is probably somewhere in between those two figures, in other words, between 4,500 and 5,000 extra beds will be needed. Given that, is the independent review group worried that we are planning to fail? If we add 2,600 beds when we probably need twice that number, are we knitting in failure of the system for the next two years?

On costs, has the independent review group been able to discover the cost per bed day or procedure, or both, for the different hospitals?

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