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

I thank the Deputies for raising the matter. I will read the statement I have been given by the Department of Health. It may not answer some of the questions that have been asked by the Deputies so I will make sure the Minister, Deputy Harris, receives them.

On behalf of the Minister, Deputy Harris, I welcome the opportunity to address the House on the issues raised by Deputy Dooley and Deputy Carey. The Government is committed to improving access to our health service. The emergency department in UHL is one of the busiest in the country, with nearly 54,000 attendances this year to the end of September. Demand for emergency department services at the hospital has continued to rise this year with an 8% increase in emergency department attendances at UHL compared with the same period last year.

Preparations and planning for winter 2018 and 2019 are well advanced in the hospital and at local level. The Department of Health is working with the HSE to ensure the most effective response to the winter challenges to unscheduled care provision within available resources. 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. The funding will focus on initiatives to enable the hospital system to de-escalate before Christmas.

The Minister, Deputy Harris, has requested the HSE to provide for a significant increase in the provision of social care and other measures to support the patient’s journey home in the first quarter of 2019 in response to the expected surge in demand after the Christmas period. A further €10 million in funding is being made available in 2019 to increase acute bed capacity in line with the recommendations of the health service capacity review.

Increasing capacity is a priority for the Government. The Department of Health is in discussion with the HSE in the context of the national service plan 2019 to identify the sites for investment and the associated number of beds, as part of an agreed capacity programme for 2019. The selection and opening of beds on specific sites in 2019 and future years will be considered as part of the annual Estimates and service planning process and subject to financial, operation, human resource and policy considerations and priorities. Increasing capacity is both part of the short-term and long-term solution. The national development plan announcement earlier this year includes provision for a 96-bed replacement ward block at UHL. The HSE has provided capital funding in 2018 to progress the design phase of this project. Further funding will be considered in the context of the capital allocation for health having regard to the availability of funding and level of contractual commitments already in place. Subject to funding and the successful completion of the planning, design and tender phases, it is anticipated that construction is unlikely to commence before 2021.

Investment in capacity and reform must go hand in hand. We have commenced implementation of the Sláintecare programme of reform, providing the framework for how health service reforms can be realised across primary and social care as well as acute hospital care. I know that has not answered many of the questions put by both Deputies, but I will return to the matter.

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