Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State will, I have no doubt, be aware of how severe the situation is in our hospitals, even in the middle of summer. Dr. Conor Deasy of Cork University Hospital, CUH, is reported in The Echo this week as saying that some 300 deaths per year can be partially attributed to overcrowding in our hospitals. There were 834 people on trolleys in CUH in June. It is absolutely incredible. A big factor is that nearly 54% of the bed capacity is taken up by 10% of patients. This is through no fault of their own. It is due to a lack of a place for the patient to go to. This scheme would allow those patients to get into nursing homes. The fair deal scheme is complicated, it can take time to bring things together and some people may not qualify for it. This scheme allows people, where they are fit and healthy, to leave hospital to go into another bed. The scheme should be funded adequately to ensure that every available nursing home bed, through whatever scheme, is taken up and that every potential space in the hospital system is created. As with home help, this scheme is not being funded properly. If it was funded properly it would ensure that pressure is taken off the acute system.

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