Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The funding pressures now being experienced in the health services mean that the acute sector must reduce its costs in order to deliver the agreed level of activity within the resources available to it. Hospitals must concentrate on maximising efficiency and getting the best possible services for patients from the budgets available to us through cost-containment measures such as a reduction in spending on agency and overtime, a reduction in activity to bring it into line with approved levels, and better management of in-house support services such as catering, laundry and back-office functions. In meeting the challenge of managing within budgets, the focus is on ensuring that essential services are protected and that patient safety and quality remain paramount. Greater efficiencies are possible in both front line and support services. Reductions in costs are currently being realised through measures such as the implementation of the HSE's acute medicine clinical care programme, which has saved 121,003 bed days to date this year. Other clinical programmes are also gradually reducing the average length of stay for patients, which in turn reduces the number of bed days needed. Similarly, the HSE's transitional care initiative is shortening the average length of stay in acute beds by putting in place 190 transitional care beds and 150 rehabilitation beds this year, to which patients can move when appropriate. The Deputy raises the matter of laundry services at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda. The Department is aware that the provision of these services has been significantly impacted by a number of retirements of staff who, under the current moratorium, cannot be replaced. The Department is also aware that at present there is no capital allocation for the replacement of laundry equipment at the hospital.

The public service agreement outlines the importance of right sourcing: the need to consider whether support services, such as laundry, are best placed in-house, whether it is economically advantageous to outsource these services and whether outsourcing could be disadvantageous to those using these services. In the spirit of that agreement, the health service implementation body has met with local union representatives and local management and discussed the matter at a full hearing. The HSIB has recommended that both parties work together to ascertain the feasibility of providing an in-house laundry service for the region. Site visits have taken place. No decision has been taken but discussions are ongoing and following these discussions, a report will issue with recommendations on which option is more favourable.

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