John Dolan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and thank Senator Boyhan for his tenacity in this matter. The complexity of the medical conditions of the patients referred to has increased significantly in recent years. I do not, however, on the face of it accept complexity as a justification. Complexity is something which is growing all the time across our health services and hospitals. No one went home from work in the National Rehabilitation Hospital one evening and came in the following morning to find that the cases had become more complex. This is happening all the time. People are surviving traumas, whether strokes or other conditions, at a rate, thankfully, they did not before. A better explanation is therefore required. The issue of multi-drug resistant organisms is everywhere. Every hospital in the country is dealing with that, in particular those treating people with severe conditions. These explanations do not get to the nub of the issue.

If there are nearly 260 people waiting, as Senator Wilson said, to get into a hospital with capacity to treat just over 100, it means capacity is a massive issue. The simple, modest request being put to the Minister of State relates to when the six beds will be open. I should be giving out to Senator Boyhan for not talking about the other 100 plus beds which are needed but he is simply asking about half a dozen beds we were told would be opened. As to the capital development, while it will be fantastic that people will have a room of their own, more space and more dignity as part of their rehabilitation, it does not add a single bed to the outfit. I ask the Minister of State to confirm that for the avoidance of doubt.

It is a bit like airports. If airplanes cannot take off, one cannot work on capacity at the other end. One cannot have people coming in. A core problem is that people are in beds in the National Rehabilitation Hospital who should have been discharged. Senator Boyhan pointed out that I had been dealing recently with the case of a man in his early 30s who should have been discharged six months ago. That is half a bed per annum. He cannot move on because there is a bun fight among the HSE and some other institutions as to where he might go. Some of the places they suggest are tearing up the CRPD, to put it mildly. It is not about the man's progression and getting back on a pathway to independence. Housing, personal assistance, home supports and a bag of practical things, the content of which I need not lay out for the Minister of State, are a huge part of solving this issue. I ask the Minister of State to address that in his response.