Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise to Deputy Hildegarde Naughten on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris, who is unable to take this matter and thank her for raising the issue and for giving me an opportunity to address the House.

The Department of Health has been overseeing a range of measures to reduce the pressure of overcrowding in our hospitals, including University Hospital Galway. A number of ongoing initiatives are under way aimed at increasing capacity in University Hospital Galway. Under last year’s winter beds initiative, 30 new beds opened at the hospital in early 2016. As Deputy Naughten pointed out, a 75-bed ward block is nearing completion on site and is due to open during 2017. This ward block will provide new inpatient accommodation at the hospital. In addition, I am advised by the HSE that consideration is being given to retaining one of the existing wards as escalation capacity. An acute adult mental health unit under construction at the hospital is expected to be operational by 2017.

The programme for a partnership Government contains a commitment to progress the ongoing design and planning phase for a new emergency department for University Hospital Galway. I confirm that a business case for this project has been submitted to the HSE and is being considered by its estates division. University Hospital Galway is fully engaged with the national patient flow improvement project as one of the pilot sites for this programme of work. The HSE advises that the hospital has been working at all levels to improve patient flow and experience and has recently recruited an emergency department assistant director of nursing for patient flow as part of the emergency department escalation task force actions.

I am also advised staffing has been increased in the emergency department where a total of 54 full-time nursing positions are in place, including newly appointed clinical nurse managers. Several vacancies are still being filled.

Staffing is being increased across the health service as a whole. The number of consultants employed has increased by over 100 while the number of nurses, including student nurses, rose by over 680 from the end of September last year to the end of September 2016.

The winter initiative from 2016 to 2017, published in September, has provided €40 million in additional funding for the winter preparedness initiative. The key deliverables of this initiative are directed towards reducing overcrowding pressures in all hospitals in the winter months. The winter initiative is driving a range of measures to support timely discharge of patients from all hospitals, including the provision of additional aids and appliances, as well as increased access to transitional care beds, home care and home help packages. This facilitates patients who need extra supports in being discharged back to their homes and communities.

The winter initiative includes several measures which specifically benefit the western region. University Hospital Galway is a focus site for the 2016-17 winter initiative and has, therefore, been scheduled to receive six extra home care packages per week for the duration of the initiative. Winter initiative measures also include the imminent expansion of a community intervention team in the Galway and Roscommon areas.

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