James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Normally I receive on my phone information on the highest numbers of people on trolleys every day but I do not have them today. Yesterday 45 people were on trolleys in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. In the past the number has reached above 50 so to say it is the highest is not accurate.

In January last year we had 569 people on trolleys throughout the country and today the number is approximately 230. Last year it was 330 so it is now 100 fewer. Let us examine what the special delivery unit has achieved along with the clinical programmes and the front-line staff. It is fair to say the unit had a very good conversation with those working in the hospital alluded to by Senator Byrne. It asked what they felt needed to be done and introduced a range of initiatives involving home help, home care and teams to give intravenous antibiotics at home. More long-term and acute beds were opened and they undertook to conduct a capacity study, which showed a capacity issue had arisen so more beds were opened as a consequence.

None the less, there is no question that this hospital remains a problem, and there is a need for support for the management there because not alone has it the worst record with regard to patients on trolleys, it also has one of the highest rates of absenteeism. Let us look at what it has achieved because we do not say it often enough. There has been an 85% reduction in the number of people waiting a year or longer for an inpatient procedure. There has been a 63% reduction in the number of people waiting nine months or longer for an inpatient procedure. There has been an 18% reduction in those waiting three months or longer. They are real measurable improvements and signs of progress that have come about because of a focus by the special delivery unit, SDU, in conjunction with the clinical programmes and the front line which is doing sterling work. There has also been a 22% reduction in total in the number of people on trolleys. That equates to more than 13,400 people who do not have to endure being on trolleys.

We should bear in mind that it was only a year ago in January that 569 people were on trolleys despite billions being spent on the health service. We are not looking at inputs all the time anymore. We are looking at outcomes for patients as measured by those who have to wait three months, nine months or a year, or those who have to wait on trolleys or have to be re-admitted. We are looking at outcomes for patients in terms of the stroke programme, which is now saving one life per week and avoiding three other people having to go into long-term care. They are Irish citizens, our people, our friends and people in our communities. They are real. That is what the SDU has been able to achieve in conjunction with the clinical programmes.

I will mention some of the things that have been done. For the first time in this country, there is now an accurate figure for outpatient waiting times. There is an attempt to say they doubled from April to last month when in fact only half the hospitals had been counted in April. Nearly all of them have been counted and there are only about two more to go. We reckon the full figure will be 360,000. That seems like an insurmountable figure but it is not if one thinks that more than 200,000 people are treated every month in outpatient departments. We are not afraid to have clarity around these matters, identify the problems and address them in conjunction with those in the service. We will do that. We had a very good debate in the House a couple of weeks back in respect of this.

In respect of this issue, the SDU has had a remarkable effect on our health service, has brought the focus back to where it should be - on the patient - and, for the first time, has enabled the front line to do the work it wants to do and grow the self-belief again that it can handle this challenge and do what we all want to see done. This is to have a health service that is equitable and accessible for everyone, not just those who can afford to go privately.