Erin McGreehan (Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State is very welcome here today. I tabled this Commencement matter because of the importance of the accident and emergency department at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. As we all know, it is a necessary resource for many people in counties Louth and Meath.

In 2016, the last works to expand and improve the accident and emergency department were completed. Since then, as the Minister of State will know, there has been a huge increase in population, not only in the north east but also all over Ireland. According to the 2022 census, the population of Louth grew by 8% and in Meath it grew by 13%. In addition to the increase in population, there has been an increase in the ageing population. In Louth, the number of people aged 65 and over increased by 24%, while in Meath the population of those aged over 65 grew by 30%. Nationally, it grew by 22%. This shows the ageing population in the north east and the importance of providing adequate services for them.

I ask the Minister of State for investment into the accident and emergency department in Drogheda in order to increase capacity and capabilities. More ambulances are needed to facilitate higher levels of staff. This investment would and could combat the current issues within the emergency department. Last week, there were news stories of ten ambulances waiting to admit patients for hours outside the accident and emergency department in Drogheda in the middle of the week. The problem of full capacity and waiting times often gets so bad that people are urged by the management of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital not to attend because of an absolute emergency. Such a warning was issued this month on 5 October.

The Irish Hospital Consultants Association has warned that patient outcomes are being compromised due to increased waiting times and overstretched staff. In 2023, the average waiting time at the emergency department in Drogheda was ten hours. The north east has one of the lowest numbers of hospital beds per person in the State, at 1.89 beds per 1,000 people.Every week, I hear stories about Drogheda hospital and its capacity issues, as well as the long waiting lists to be seen. I hear stories of staff, who are stretched but committed, working at full capacity under great pressure and dealing with a huge lack of space, with a limited number of staff to lighten that load. There are plenty of negatives about Drogheda emergency department, but there are many stories of good care having been given. Everyone agrees that once you get into the hospital and are seen, the facilities are second to none, thanks to the investment that has been seen in gynaecology and in the operating theatres, which are top class.

I have spent days on a trolley in Drogheda emergency department and would not wish it on anyone. Most of us will know people who need to go to the emergency department and will be very worried about that. I know of some people whose family members last week had to sit for hours on chairs in the emergency department. I beg the Department to look at the demographic changes in Louth and the north east in general, at the options to increase the emergency department capacity and at increasing the number of beds in the hospital. I appreciate that more than 116 beds have been added in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital recently, but we need to look at all options, including perhaps the expansion of the services in Louth County Hospital in Dundalk with the injury unit.

Where there is a will, there is a way. We will continue to see an increase in the population in the north west. The most recent investment, as I said, happened in 2016. It is time for new investment and an increase in the services there.

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising the important matter of the emergency department at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, and welcome the opportunity to update the House on it. The Government and the Minister for Health are committed to the ongoing development of hospitals, such as that in Drogheda. The Government has allocated significant resources to meet the needs of patients using the hospital. Staffing at the hospital has grown by 351 since January 2020, from 2,299 staff then to 2,650 staff in March 2024, representing an increase in staffing of 15%. In 2020, the hospital had a budget of €204 million. In April 2024, the budget had increased to €260 million, meaning its budget had grown by €56 million, or 27%, in just four years.

Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital is the main acute hospital, as the Senator noted, in the north east and has 24-7 emergency care and related services. It is a nationally important facility and, according to the HSE, it hosts the fifth busiest emergency department in the country. The emergency floor of the hospital includes an emergency department, a clinical decision unit, accredited acute medical and acute surgical assessment units and a paediatric emergency department. Wider hospital services include critical care, orthopaedic trauma, surgery, a wide range of medical specialties, an acute stroke unit, cardiology, gynaecology and obstetrics, and paediatrics. The hospital's emergency department was last updated with an extensive phase 2 capital development completed in 2020. This involved an extension to both the adult and paediatric emergency departments. A new state-of-the-art theatre suite, comprising five new operating theatres, was also completed in 2020. Furthermore, over the past four years, three more ward floors have been reconfigured as 84 single-room accommodation units, improving the patient pathway and infection control environment.

Looking to the future needs of the hospital, with the anticipated future growth in the local population and an increasing population over 75 years of age, it is necessary to further develop the hospital's capacity and capability. In this regard, a number of projects are planned and under way to improve acute hospital capacity. Under the Government’s hospital bed expansion plan, a total of 141 new and replacement beds will be delivered at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital by 2031. Of these, 96 beds are scheduled to be delivered between 2025 and 2028. Additional inpatient accommodation is being constructed off site as a modular unit and is expected to be on site and completed in early January of next year.This unit will deliver 15 additional beds to the hospital. A feasibility study has also been conducted to convert the Boyne ground floor west of the hospital to an inpatient ward. This feasibility study looked to identify potential for additional beds. These projects speak to the high level of investment this Government continues to put into Drogheda for the benefit of the staff and patients.

Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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The Senator has a minute to respond.

Erin McGreehan (Fianna Fail)
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The hospital has seen huge investment. There has been an increase in staff. When a person gets into the hospital, they are looked after. I know that from personal experience. We have seen some changes in the accident and emergency department. The waiting room has been expanded. I am very familiar with the accident and emergency department in Drogheda, having spent time in it and having spent time in it with family members. We have to look at what is provided there. There is one toilet in the accident and emergency department for all patients. A patient cannot leave the accident and emergency department. We need to look at how we are looking after patients who go in there. People who go into accident and emergency should be afforded dignity, respect and privacy. It is not always possible to maintain dignity and privacy in Drogheda accident and emergency department and that is because of space. More space and more investment are needed. I am very interested in and hopeful about those feasibility studies and the work that is currently ongoing in the Department. I very much welcome that.

Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator. The Minister of State has the final word.

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator. It is important to recognise that Drogheda hospital is an extremely important hospital, serving the population of the north east. The Senator is correct that the population is increasing and will continue to increase. The staffing levels, as I have outlined, have increased. The budget has increased by more than 27% from approximately €200 million to €260 million. There are plans for new beds over the next three to four years. The target date is for 96 new beds to be delivered between March 2025 and 2028. By 2031 the total number of new beds will be 141. The Senator is correct about the growing ageing population; we do need to plan for that also.

Recent years have seen the increase of both adult and paediatric emergency departments and the reconfiguration of wards to improve infection control. They are ongoing projects on the capital plan to improve inpatient accommodation.

On further improvements, the HSE has robust systems and procedures to manage and deliver infrastructure projects. The capital planning process begins by requiring all proposals to be signed off by the relevant integrated health area. Proposals are then forwarded to the relevant HSE directive for sign-off. That is being prioritised at the moment. There is already a plan in place for the next three to four years. Yes, plans may be altered and added to and it is important where the requirement is outlined, that we add to them and deliver on them.

Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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The House now stands suspended until 2 p.m.