Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 474: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the basis upon which he has decided to accept the figures for those on trolleys awaiting admission to hospital beds prepared by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation; and the studies he has carried out on this matter in the past two months. [11306/11]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The key objective for my Department, and the HSE, in measuring waiting times in hospital Emergency Departments is to have an accurate picture of patient journeys from entry to exit, as opposed to those patients solely awaiting admission.

Following recent discussions with the HSE, particularly with Dr. Barry White, National Director for Clinical Programmes, I am of the view that the basis on which the INMO has been producing the figures is the one we should use from now on. On that basis, I want the system to move as quickly as possibly to a six-hour target, meaning patients are either in a bed on a ward or appropriately discharged within six hours. With this in mind, the trolley count will now be published by the HSE based on the methodology currently being used in each hospital to collect the INMO data. This will be validated by Nurse Managers in Emergency Departments and bed managers within each hospital. Furthermore, the six-hour target will become the primary measure for admission delays. In order to make sure that happens, I am committed to establishing a Special Delivery Unit (SDU) to improve access to the emergency and elective care system. The SDU is a Government priority and is one of the commitments from the Programme for Government 2011-2016 to be achieved within the first 100 days. Extensive work is currently being undertaken in designing the Unit, which will be modelled, in part, on the successful special delivery unit in Northern Ireland which substantially reduced waiting lists over two to three years.