Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is important to put it into context. Bed management is extremely important. Even though the Senator said there is room for another bed, to do so, there also needs to be the nursing staff and health and social care workers to provide that support. Currently, there are 74 long-term beds in the hospital, the majority of which I assume are under the fair deal scheme. That is to support older people to be able to age in a community nursing hospital when they can no longer be cared for at home. The Senator is possibly missing the point that the hospital also has 26 rehabilitation beds. He said the hospital had one rehabilitation bed but in fact it has 26. These are really important for people who have had a stay in an acute hospital and now need rehabilitation, perhaps after a stroke or a hip operation, to be well enough then to go back into their communities.

The Sacred Heart Hospital provides a respite bed to give family carers in the community a welcome break. This bed is currently occupied. The bed offers additional assistance to family and carers. The HSE has also said that if any emergency respite care applications are made in Castlebar, every effort is made to accommodate the person, in either the Sacred Heart Hospital or the closest available bed in the county.

I understand what the Senator said about people not wanting to travel, but at the same time, if a choice has to be made between closing a long-stay bed to have a respite bed, I would prefer to keep the long-stay bed. However, I will bring what the Senator has said to the head of older persons' services in the area, Des Mulligan, whom I speak to weekly, to see if anything further can be done.