Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 21: To ask the Minister for Health and Children her plans to close 1,100 hospital beds in 2010; the location of these beds; her views on the impact this will have on patient services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6876/10]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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I approved the HSE's 2010 National Service Plan last Friday, 5 February. The Plan targets a reduction of 54,000 inpatient cases through a combination of reducing emergency admissions by over 33,000 and providing access to diagnostics on a non-inpatient basis to at least 10,000 patients who are admitted each year only for that purpose. It also targets a further increase in day cases.

Meeting these targets will require increased access to the specialist skills and senior clinical decision- making available in Medical Assessment Units, to diagnostics and to other ambulatory care services. The HSE will also focus on minimising length of stay, with a particular focus on reducing the current variance across different hospitals for similar procedures, on increasing same day of surgery admission and on protecting inpatient beds for elective surgery in order to reduce waiting times. While there is no proposal in the National Service Plan to close 1,100 beds, the reduction in in-patient treatments will mean that less capacity will be required in this area during 2010.

By reforming the manner in which services are provided, I am confident that the HSE will deliver the volumes of service provided for in the plan, while at the same time continuing to improve service quality and patient outcomes. Accordingly, under the National Service Plan the acute sector will continue to manage emergency admissions while at the same time achieving elective activity targets.