Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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20. To ask the Minister for Health if he accepts the views expressed by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation and other health professionals that the deepening crisis in accident and emergency departments and unacceptably long waiting lists may only be addressed by a significant increase in funding to the health service and the re-opening of thousands of closed hospital beds; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2383/15]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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ED Over-crowding 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 the hospital system. 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.

It is undeniable that in recent years beds have been closed as services develop in acute hospitals. However, we need to move from the current hospital centric model of care towards a new model of integrated care which treats patients at the lowest level of complexity that is safe, timely, efficient, and as close to home as possible. This objective would not be best served by the permanent reopening of many of these beds. The management of competing demands for emergency and scheduled care requires changes in how and where patients are treated. The movement of care and treatment from in-patient to day case and from day case to OPD is most important as is ensuring the appropriate ratio of new to return appointments, reducing unnecessary return appointments.

Improved collaboration across hospitals and between acute, primary and community care has shown clearly that much can be achieved by encouraging local leadership, management, staff and unions to develop a common understanding of the issues and solutions which apply to their own hospitals and supporting them to implement appropriate responses. Following a second meeting of the ED Taskforce last week, the HSE is working on an action plan to be finalised by the end of the month to specifically address ED issues with a view to a significant reduction in trolley waits over the course of 2015.