Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the Deputy, and what is really important here is hospital avoidance in the first place. We spoke about the teams going into the nursing homes. We now have a situation where if a resident in a nursing home, whether public, private or voluntary, needs an X-ray, the X-ray team is going in there. That is really important and it means that person will not have to be brought by ambulance to the emergency department.

There is a dedicated focus in the HSE to do the very best we can to avoid having elderly people in particular on trolleys for lengths of time. It does not always happen that way but that focus is very clear. We are also investing hugely in step-down beds, respite and rehab. For example, when older people in a hospital are deemed ready to leave the hospital and no longer need the support of a consultant in an acute hospital setting but still need care in the community, we are transferring people, where appropriate, to nursing homes but also to respite and rehab. These elements are really important to make sure that we have a good flow through the acute hospital settings.

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