Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 67: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if he will ensure that there are no further closures of public hospital beds in 2011; if he will bring forward a plan to reopen this year the wards and beds currently closed due to cutbacks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7532/11]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Question 75: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the position regarding the closure of 900 beds; the plans to cut more beds; the hospitals specifically that are at risk; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7559/11]

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 351: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the number and locations of public hospital beds currently closed due to cutbacks; the number closed since February 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8026/11]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 67, 75 and 351 together.

There are approximately 11,600 in-patient beds and 1,800 day beds in the public hospital system. The number of beds available at any one time fluctuates, depending on planned activity levels, maintenance and refurbishment requirements and staff leave arrangements. Beds may also be closed from time to time in order to control expenditure, given the need for every hospital to operate within its allotted budget. I am advised that based on the existing methodology, approximately 960 acute beds are closed at present but this cannot be regarded as a precise figure because hospitals have been using different criteria to measure bed closures. The HSE is at present reviewing the existing methodology for measuring bed closures in acute hospitals in order to ensure that a consistent approach is applied across the public hospital system.

It is important in any case to emphasise that hospital beds represent a service input and are not in themselves a measure of how the system is performing. In recent years there has been a much-increased emphasis on improved efficiency in acute hospitals. In particular, the focus has been on reducing inpatient care activity levels through the provision of more appropriate service responses, delivering a shift to care on a day case basis where appropriate, and on performance improvements such as surgery on the day of admission and reducing inappropriate lengths of stay. Specific targets under these heading are included in the HSE's 2011 National Service Plan.

In this context the HSE's Directorate of Clinical Strategy and Programmes is leading a coordinated programme of work to improve service quality, cost-effectiveness and patient access and to ensure that care is provided in the setting most appropriate to individuals' needs, with due regard to patient safety considerations. I have met with the clinicians leading this multidisciplinary process and strongly support their work, which I believe will enable services to be delivered in a manner that is appropriate and sustainable into the future.