Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)

The reduction of 34 in-patient beds is balanced by a significant increase of 13 extra day beds.

The measures referred to have been taken in the interest of moving patients from the four old nightingale wards in the 1930s building to the recently completed strategy for the control of antimicrobial resistance in Ireland, SARI, compliant wards. These wards are a major improvement in terms of the standard of care that can be afforded to the patients.

The rationale behind the reconfiguration of in-patient beds to day beds is in line with encouraging a greater emphasis on the practice of day care medicine which is part of the HSE's transformation programme. The reconfiguration of the bed complement in the new hospital, including a significant increase in the number of day ward beds, aims to reduce the cancellation of the in-patient elective surgical work at the hospital. This will be done through the ringfencing of day beds in the surgical ward for surgical procedures to facilitate the treatment of gynaecology patients at the hospital on a day basis. The provision of additional day ward beds for these procedures will also help to reduce the level of cancellation of in-patient gynaecology procedures at the hospital and increase the availability of medical day ward procedures in the area of cardiac interventions and colonoscopies among others. This in turn will reduce the need for in-patient admissions to the hospital. The existing medical assessment unit, which has received much favourable comment, will also increase its throughput.

It is important to note that the revised bed complement has been fully endorsed by the consultant surgeons and consultant obstetricians at the hospital. In addition, the focus for the hospital, by agreement with all relevant consultant staff, is to increase the throughput of surgical and gynaecology work at the hospital. The provision of additional day ward beds as detailed will facilitate this increase in the workload.

It should be noted that in-patient activity at Mullingar to the end of September was 0.2% ahead of last year, while day case activity was up by 6.2% year on year. While the actual bed complement of 21 beds is a reduction in the overall capacity, the increase in the provision of day beds will ensure that Midland Regional Hospital Mullingar treats more patients in 2010 than 2009. This is in line with the proposals nationally to increase the usage of the day beds in our hospital setting. It is important to note that the current usage of day beds in Mullingar Hospital is still behind the international norms for such bed utilisation. The adjustment in beds taking place will help to improve the situation thus making the hospital even more effective in providing care and treatment in the future. I am confident that the hospital will continue to provide the best possible quality of care for all its patients.

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