Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising these issues and giving me an opportunity to respond to them specifically. Plans are under way for the winter initiative and have already begun to start kicking in to place. The Department of Health is working with the HSE to ensure local and regional plans are consolidated and supported through policies and plans at national level. The idea is to ensure the most effective response to the challenges that we know always come through the winter months.

As part of budget 2019, an additional €10 million in funding is being provided in 2018 to prepare for and manage the expected peak in demand for health services in the winter ahead. This funding will focus on initiatives to enable the hospital system to de-escalate before Christmas. Support for patients in the over-75 age group will be a priority, with measures to respond to a surge in capacity, transitional care beds and aids and appliances to support the journey home for patients following a hospital stay. The Minister for Health has asked for a significant increase in the provision of social care measures to promote hospital discharging in the first quarter of 2019 in response to the expected surge in demand after the Christmas period that we can always expect.

I assure Deputy Calleary and patients that while of course we recognise the pressures in the system that result in patient care not being as good as it should be – in other words, far too many people, including elderly people, are on trolleys - we are trying to plan ahead for the surge in demand that we know our hospitals will have to cope with in the months ahead.

This is seasonal and happens every year. It is predictable. The Minister has allocated more money and has put plans in place. There are ongoing conversations between the HSE and local hospitals to ensure that we prepare for this and try to de-escalate the system in hospitals in preparation for the surge that will come in the post-Christmas period. Planning is very much under way for that.

See this speech in context