Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 141: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the steps she intends to take to address concerns from hospital consultants to establish a national re-admission study to assess the number of patients who had to be taken back into hospital with the same illness within a short period of time after discharge; her views on management moves to instruct consultants to discharge up to 50 patients a day in some hospitals to relieve pressure on accident and emergency departments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15462/06]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context

In the context of the Health Service Executive's framework for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of accident and emergency services, the management of accident and emergency attendances and admissions has been identified as a key component of the overall approach to tackling the problem, and the issue of re-admissions has been highlighted as requiring further analysis and focus. I have asked the accident and emergency task force to further examine this issue, with a view to identifying appropriate community and clinical supports to avoid re-admissions.

I am not aware of any instructions to consultants in some hospitals to discharge up to 50 patients a day to relieve pressure on accident and emergency departments. I am aware that hospital management routinely issue communications to relevant hospital staff, including consultants, regarding the numbers of patients awaiting emergency admission. These communications in no way suggest that patients should be inappropriately discharged, but form part of a multifaceted discharge planning approach by hospitals.