Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Cullinane for raising this issue and for giving me the opportunity to provide an update to the House on the recent cancellation of surgical procedures at University Hospital Waterford. By way of context, it is of note that University Hospital Waterford is experiencing ongoing growth in demand for unscheduled care. Emergency department attendances over the past four years have increased by 11%. The HSE has advised that, as of 7 a.m. on Friday, 14 June last, there were 31 admitted patients in the emergency department and eight extra patients on trolleys at ward level at the hospital. The HSE has further advised that the demand for critical care beds already exceeded what was available on that day and, therefore, there was no critical care capacity available or likely to be available for patients who would require post-operative specialist critical care that day. As a result, and in line with the hospital's escalation policy, the HSE has advised that four scheduled surgeries were cancelled. The HSE has further advised that the patients will be contacted urgently to reschedule their appointments.

It is important to note that maintaining scheduled care access for all patients is a key priority for hospitals. I fully acknowledge the distress and inconvenience for patients and their families when elective procedures are cancelled, particularly for clinically urgent procedures. Furthermore, any decision to delay admission or treatment is not taken lightly, and where such decisions are made, they are done to ensure a safe environment, with safe delivery of care to all patients as the priority at all times.

In addition, the Deputy will be aware that increasing capacity across our hospitals is a priority for Government. An additional 241 acute hospital beds opened under the winter initiative 2017-2018, including 18 additional acute beds in University Hospital Waterford. Furthermore, the national service plan for 2019 provides for a comprehensive capacity programme and, as part of that programme, an additional six acute beds have opened this year in University Hospital Waterford under the 2018-2019 winter plan. The 2019 capacity programme also provides for 202 additional beds, including 24 beds in University Hospital Waterford during 2019, with a view to bringing this extra capacity into operation in quarter 1 of 2020.

My Department is also working to improve access for patients waiting for hospital operations and procedures. Budget 2019 announced that the Government had further increased investment in tackling waiting lists, with funding to the National Treatment Purchase Fund increasing to €75 million. The joint Department of Health, HSE, and NTPF scheduled care access plan for 2019 was published on 11 March. The NTPF is collaborating with University Hospital Waterford and, to date this year, initiatives have been put in place to arrange treatment for over 3,000 patients across inpatient, daycase and outpatient waiting lists.

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