James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue.

The Government is committed to ensuring that patients receive the highest standard of care in the appropriate settings be they acute, community or residential. The traditional focus on the institution rather than the patient must be changed. To this end, we support older people to live at home and in their communities for as long as possible. This is realised through a range of community-based services, including mainstream home help, enhanced home care packages, meals-on-wheels and respite or day care. These services are designed to be as flexible as possible to best meet the needs of individual recipients and their families.

In tangible terms, the investment dedicated to services for older people is significant by any standard with, for example, just over €1.4 billion being provided this year for the health sector alone, of which approximately €350 million is for HSE home supports. These services are often delivered on a partnership basis with the not-for-profit and private sectors. We also provide a number of short term care beds nationally, including convalescence, respite, rehabilitation and palliative care beds. In total, there are just under 2,000 short term care beds currently available nationally. Intermediate care is a key component in delivering a continuum of services and particularly in delivering the appropriate care at the lowest level of complexity.

There are currently 160 short term or intermediate care beds available in Mayo General Hospital. I am aware that the hospital made a submission for inclusion in a pilot project on intermediate care being undertaken in my Department by the special delivery unit. The business case suggested the development of two intermediate care teams in Mayo, one in the south of the county and another in the north. The aim of these teams is to avoid unnecessary admissions to hospital or long stay care units, enable a more efficient hospital discharge, provide home care services for those who need help to recover from an illness or injury and to bridge the gap between primary and secondary care. The criteria for admission to this home based service is as follows: clients should be over 65 years of age, clients should have had a recent episode which resulted in a deterioration in their condition, clients have the potential for improvement-rehabilitation within a 12 month period and that the client reside in a catchment area. The cost associated with the development of the two teams is estimated to be €907,000.

The special delivery unit is still considering all of the submissions received regarding this initiative. No final decision has been made concerning the areas to be covered or the extent of these initiatives. However, the submission from HSE west in respect of Mayo General Hospital will be considered with all of the other submissions.

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