Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am in daily contact, often several times a day, with the most senior members of the HSE, including the CEO and the chief operating officer, as well as with the CEOs of the hospital groups on occasion, the director of the acute hospitals and many others, along with senior members of my own management team. We engage several times a day on the situation in the acute hospitals, as one would expect at this time of year. That will continue and intensify through the Christmas and new year period. The Deputy asked a fair question as to what is happening now. We have provided €26 million to the Minister of State, Deputy Daly, for the nursing home support scheme to ensure a quick turnaround time of four weeks. We have also put in place more home care packages and more funding for transitional care. Regarding structural change, from January next under the new GP arrangement, there will be a structured chronic disease management programme for patients over the age of 70 for the first time. This means that older people who are currently being treated in hospital for a number of chronic conditions, including asthma and heart conditions, will be treated in the community instead.

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