Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 1022: To ask the Minister for Health, further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 293 and 294 of 20 July 2011, when a reply will issue from the Health Service Executive. [24179/11]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Acute bed numbers in public hospitals are counted as an average of beds available over each year, given that the number of beds available in each hospital can vary over any year for operational reasons.

The table gives the number of available beds in each hospital for the period.

The total number of acute hospital beds, excluding acute psychiatric beds, is approximately 13,000. This includes in excess of 11,000 inpatient beds at any one time, as well as 1,800 day beds. The exact 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. The HSE compiles weekly data on acute bed closures. However, hospitals use different criteria for bed closures and the HSE recently decided to audit bed data collection and develop standard criteria. The Executive 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.

The main issue concerns which beds can be reopened and which have been closed for an extended period and are realistically no longer available.

The HSE continues to collect data on the existing basis, to monitor national and local trends. New standardised figures are expected to be available by the end of the year.

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.