Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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50. To ask the Minister for Health his Department’s plan to end overcrowding and lengthy waiting times for persons accessing emergency departments. [2342/15]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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ED overcrowding is a priority issue for me and for the Government and I acknowledge the difficulties which the current surge in ED activity is causing for patients, their families and the staff who are doing their utmost to provide safe, quality care in very challenging circumstances.

All hospitals have escalation plans to manage not only patient flow but also patient safety in a responsive, controlled and planned way that supports and ensures the delivery of optimum patient care. These plans include the opening of additional overflow areas, reopening of closed beds, provision of additional diagnostic scans and Consultants doing additional ward rounds to improve the appropriate flow of patients through hospitals.

The Government has provided additional funding of €3 million in 2014 and €25 million in 2015 to address delayed discharges and actions being taken include the provision of additional home care packages, additional transition beds in nursing homes, 300 additional Fair Deal places and an extension in Community Intervention Teams. Where it is necessary to prioritise emergency and trauma surgery, cancer and complex non-urgent cases, the HSE assures me that this is being done. Inevitably this will affect waiting lists and waiting times. The challenge is to minimise the need for cancellation at short notice and to manage the impact of such cancellations effectively, within the hospital and in collaboration with other hospitals. It may be necessary to increase elective activity in the summer.

I convened the Emergency Department Taskforce last month to develop long term solutions to overcrowding by providing additional focus and momentum in dealing with the challenges presented by the current trolley waits. My Department and the HSE are currently working together on a plan which will ensure that trolley waits are contained throughout the year, operational arrangements within acute hospitals and across acute and community are designed and implemented consistently so as to contribute to sustainable improvement into the future and there is a strong basis to evaluate and manage performance.