Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I may have interpreted the question wrongly. I think there are two aspects to it: one is the winter plan but also how we are engaging with the staff, I presume in relation to the roll out of the winter plan, as opposed to more broadly. Ensuring that services are planned to meet critical periods of demand is a core operational function of the HSE. My Department has engaged extensively with the HSE throughout the year to ensure the most effective response to the challenges faced by the health service this winter. As part of this process, integrated winter preparedness plans have been developed by hospital groups and community healthcare organisations to meet the anticipated surge in demand for healthcare services during the winter months. The plans are designed to optimise existing resources and encompass operational management of patient flow and maintaining public health. The recent patient experience survey found that 81% of people surveyed said that they were always treated with respect and dignity in the emergency department and ensuring the values of patient dignity and respect are upheld at all times will remain a key priority.

The overall winter plan, which runs until 31 March 2019, was endorsed by the emergency department task force, which as Deputy O'Reilly knows is co-chaired by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO. The plan includes a four-week period of focused action from 17 December to 13 January. During this period nine key hospital sites of concern will be targeted with a suite of enhanced actions including extended opening hours for local injury units, minor injury units and key primary centres; winter-ready clinics in the community targeting at-risk groups; increased diagnostic access for GPs and extending hours of service in hospitals so people do not find themselves delayed or stuck in a hospital while waiting for a diagnostic test; and enhanced senior decision-making across the hospitals.

A central component of the plan which is already under way is the provision of an additional 550 home care packages over the winter period to help patients return home from hospital with the supports they need. The winter plan will also seek to increase bed capacity in quarter 1 of next year. Over the past 12 months, we have added an additional 240 beds and work is nearing completion on a further 78 beds which are due to open in the coming weeks. In addition to winter funding, €10 million is being made available in 2019 to increase acute bed capacity. Further details will be included in the national service plan. Taken together, these initiatives will increase the number of available inpatient beds in the acute hospital system to more than 11,000, a threshold last seen in 2009, showing that the lost decade is perhaps now over.

The HSE advises that a briefing for the staff panel on the overall winter plan will take place this week and any clarifications required will be provided in this forum. The INMO has been very much co-chairing emergency department task force meetings. My understanding is that the plan will be published by the HSE tomorrow.

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