Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

A number of patients who had been waiting to be discharged from Beaumont hospital were able to leave as a result of these measures. The Minister for Health is also re-establishing the emergency department forum which will meet for the first time on 22 December and will meet monthly thereafter to examine the solutions being put in place to address the problems experienced by emergency departments.

Some of the important decisions have been taken by Beaumont hospital, one of the busiest hospitals in the country, including the use of a day ward to accommodate patients, particularly those waiting longer than 24 hours for admission, the cancellation of elective surgery, notification to GPs and the public that the hospital is experiencing severe challenges and associated advice on alternative sources of care, whether it be GP, D-Doc, pharmacy or private health care clinics, and access for frail and elderly patients who are medically stable but require a rapid geriatric assessment at the clinic led by Mater hospital consultants in Smithfield. Additional physicians have also been allocated to the emergency department to treat patients in a more timely manner.

This is not a situation one could call ideal, but Beaumont hospital is one in which these problems have been arising for many years. I hope the additional moneys allocated and the reconstitution of the emergency department forum will have an impact both before the end of the year and throughout January, when traditionally there is a surge in delays in seeking entry to hospital.

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