Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for raising this important matter.

Emergency department, ED, overcrowding has been linked to many adverse outcomes, such as longer wait times, worse patient outcomes, treatment delays and growing staff and patient dissatisfaction. That is why this Government is committed to breaking the cycle of overcrowding in our health service and has again provided significant funding this winter for measures to relieve pressure on our EDs. This winter has been a particularly difficult one for our health services. During February, there was a 7.7% increase in ED attendances and a 5% increase in ED admissions, compared to February 2017. There was also a 9.5% rise in ED attendances and an 8.5% rise in admissions among those over 75 years of age in February, as compared to the same period last year. This increased demand was further exacerbated this month by the impact of Storm Emma and related severe weather across the country.

This growth in demand is well ahead of population growth and reflects international evidence that emergency department demand is driven by more than demographic factors. However, inpatient bed capacity to meet the growing demand is constrained, resulting in an 11.8% increase in patients waiting on trolleys compared to February 2017. As part of budget 2018, €40 million in additional funding has been provided to respond to winter pressures, of which €25 million has been ring-fenced for social care measures to reduce delayed discharges and improve patient flow from our EDs. These measures are being rolled out and include €3.5 million for 20 additional transitional care beds and €18 million for 45 additional home care packages a week in the system during the winter period.

In addition, the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, recently approved a further €5 million in funding to deliver an extra 324 home support packages, HSPs, across 13 specific sites and an additional 50 approvals per week for transitional care beds, TCBs, for a six-week period across all hospitals to support hospital discharging in the aftermath of Storm Emma and associated adverse weather. Among the sites to benefit are Tallaght, St. James' Hospital, St. Vincent's Hospital, the Mater and Beaumont. As of today, approximately 190 additional beds have been opened this winter at St. Vincent's, Drogheda, Limerick, Waterford, Galway, Beaumont, St. James' Hospital, the Mater Hospital Dublin and Naas Hospital. Further beds are already funded to come on line throughout 2018, including new beds in Kilkenny, critical care beds in Cork and the Mater in Dublin, and as part of the development of a modular build for South Tipperary General Hospital.

While acknowledging the need for productivity improvements and reforms across the health service, the recently published health system capacity review outlines that in order to reach international standards of bed occupancy level, the acute hospital system needs additional beds front loaded. In response to this recommendation, the Minister has asked the Health Service Executive, HSE, to develop a plan to identify the location and mix of beds across the hospital system which can be opened and staffed by this November to improve preparedness for winter 2018-19 and relieve overcrowding in our hospital EDs. The Department of Health is working with the HSE to develop this plan as a priority.

We all wish for a better health service and improved hospital services. It is only though continued investment in capacity, in hospital staff and in reform of our health services in line with Sláintecare that we can deliver this. I assure my colleagues that this remains a priority for this Government and we will continue to work hard and stay focused on this issue.

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