Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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227. To ask the Minister for Health with regard to the €25 million allocated to tackle delayed discharges, the amount of this now being spent. [9853/15]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Delayed discharges arise when a patient has been judged clinically to no longer have a requirement for acute hospital care but remains in an acute hospital bed, thus rendering that bed unavailable for patients who need admission. In Budget 2015 the Government allocated €25m to tackle the problem of delayed discharges and this additional funding is being applied across residential and community services to reflect the varying needs of patients.

Of the €25m allocated towards supporting the Delayed Discharge Initiative the following is the position:

- €10m allocated for NHSS is supporting 300 additional places on the scheme since the first week in December 2014.

- Of the €8m allocated towards short stay beds €3m is supporting transitional care arrangements with the beds allocated in terms of their use to support the specific acute hospitals as outlined in the HSE Service Plan 2015.

- The balance of €5m will be used to support 65 beds in the former Mount Carmel hospital which will start to come on stream in April 2015.

- €5m is allocated to support acute hospital discharges in specific hospitals through Home Care Package provision and these are allocated out and in use by the various hospitals.

- €2m has been provided to expand Community Intervention Team services in the greater Dublin area and this has been implemented and including the extension of the services to cover the areas around Naas and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospitals.

The HSE is also ensuring that all possible measures are being implemented to deal with the current surge in activity being experienced in Emergency Department's in the acute hospital system. Such measures include:-

The prioritisation of Home Care Services to those requiring same to be discharged to their own homes. The provision of Transitional Care Beds (TCBs) to patients who have finished their acute care episodes and require on-going residential care services. To this end the HSE has approved in excess of 1,000places across the country since 6 January 2015.