Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, I thank the Deputy for the opportunity to update the House. I will reply to the issue as tabled and then maybe pick up on some of the Deputy's concerns. The emergency department in Cavan has been performing well this year. Performance information from the HSE shows a 51% reduction in trolley numbers at the hospital in comparison with the same period in 2016. This is a positive performance especially when we consider that the overall public hospital system is seeing growing demand for emergency care.

This year emergency department, ED, attendances are up nearly 2% overall that is over 15,000 more patients attending EDs nationally as compared to 2016. In addition, Cavan General Hospital has been performing well in terms of patient experience times in the ED. Up to the end of August, 72% of all patients completed their episodes of care in the ED within six hours. The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, RCSI, Hospital Group has identified the need for development of the resuscitation area in Cavan emergency department. Future investment in Cavan General Hospital will be considered within the overall acute hospital infrastructure programme, the prioritised needs of the hospital groups and within the overall capital envelope available to the health service.

The HSE will continue to apply the available funding for hospital development in the most cost effective way possible to meet current and future needs of the health service. The new capital envelope announced last week in the context of budget 2018 will be used by the HSE to revise the capital plan for 2018 and will form the basis of the Department's submission for the forthcoming ten-year national investment plan. Community health organisations and hospitals are all currently in the process of planning for increased demand for health services. They are developing integrated winter plans to cover the period October 2017 to March 2018. These plans, including the plan for Cavan General Hospital, have been submitted to the HSE and will be approved before the end of October. As part of budget 2018 an additional €40 million was announced for 2017 to prepare for and manage the expected peak in demand for our health services over the upcoming winter period.

A bed capacity review is also ongoing within the Department of Health. This review is examining key elements of hospital capacity. The findings of this review will provide a basis for determining the capacity requirements over the next 15 years. It will also identify the type of capacity needed at a national and regional level with regard to acute hospitals, primary care and community care. A final report will be published before the end of the year.

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