Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 187: To ask the Minister for Health his plans to reopen beds in med one in Louth County Hospital to deal with overcrowding in Drogheda Hospital; the number of beds that will be opened; when will this come into effect; and if the development is permanent or temporary. [33815/11]

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 188: To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Questions Nos 475, 476, 492, 510 and 524, the measures that have been identified by the special delivery unit that could be taken quickly in the hospital and or closely related community setting that would significantly relieve pressure on the emergency department; the amount of funding support that has been allocated to support the measures for Our Lady of Lourdes Drogheda, County Louth; when this will be implemented; and when will funding become available. [33816/11]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 187 and 188 together.

I have made it a priority to unblock access to acute services in our hospitals by improving the patient flow through the system. Access to services is not about bed numbers per se, it is about how the bed capacity in a hospital is managed to maximise throughput and provide safe and quality care to patients.

The Special Delivery Unit, which I established in June this year, is focussing on these issues. The SDU is establishing an infrastructure based on information collection and analysis, hospital by hospital, so that we will know what is actually happening in real time. It is providing information tools for hospital managers, including clinical managers, to map and measure bed capacity in their hospital depending on variations in for example the average length of stay of patients. This will allow us to begin to embed performance management in the system, to manage bed capacity and to sustain shorter waiting times.

As part of the process of forming the overall picture of the emergency departments situation nationally, the SDU has identified fifteen hospitals which between them account for 80% of the trolley wait problem in the hospital system. Eight Hospitals have been identified for very high support including Our Lady of Lourdes Drogheda. Liaison Officers from the SDU are working pro-actively to support these sites.

I have also agreed that some additional funding may be provided, on a strictly once off basis, based on specific proposals from the hospitals to reduce waiting times between now and the end of the year. Adherence to the agreed criteria will be closely monitored by the SDU.

In the case of Our Lady of Lourdes Drogheda, the hospital has requested a range of supports and the SDU has agreed to a set of proposals which will cost over €700,000 between now and the end of this year. The measures planned include extending the opening of the Medical Assessment Unit and the opening of eight medical beds at Our Lady of Lourdes. Other measures include facilitating early assisted discharge for medically fit patients and the provision of early access to intermediate care for prospective long term care discharges, as well as the opening of 28 low acuity beds in the Louth/Navan hospitals to provide an intermediate care discharge area.

The conditions and performance measures which Our Lady of Lourdes and other hospitals will have to meet are as follows; for the remainder of the year and throughout January 2012 no patient will wait more than 23 hours in the hospital's Emergency Department. In addition the trolley wait target must be maintained at least 70% below the maximum daily trolley count since January 2010. Other conditions/performance measures include: seven day ward/discharge rounds; achievement of all Acute Medicine Programme milestones; and implementation of approved measures to effectively stream elderly patients.