Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The 20 beds that were closed due to a virus in St. John's Hospital have been reopened and this may explain the considerable improvement in the numbers waiting on trolleys in the past few days. As Deputy O’Donnell said, a new emergency department is being built in Limerick, which will provide additional bed capacity. While the HSE will consider interim solutions in the meantime, interim beds cost interim money and a hospital group that is running so far over budget will be further down the list for receiving additional funding and capital than those that are running on budget. Increasingly we will pursue a policy of rewarding those who come in on budget, not those who overrun.

I have worked in three emergency departments and have visited two since I became Minister, so I know a fair bit about them. When I visited Tallaght Hospital, I was pleased to see how much better it was than when I worked there. When I worked there, trolleys were strewn down the corridors and, thankfully, it is no longer the case. This is not to say there are no problems. Based on public commentary, one would not think things are so much better than they were three or four years ago, but they are. I have received approximately 50 invitations to visit 50 different acute hospitals. If I visit one per week we will be well into the election campaign. While I will do my best to get around to as many hospitals as possible, it would be very naïve to think that my walking around an emergency department looking at people on trolleys is going to solve the problem. All these hospitals have CEOs, management teams and clinicians. Throughout the country, better patient flow and management can considerably improve the situation. The responsibility ultimately lies with the CEOs, clinicians and management to make best use of the resources they have before they seek more.

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