Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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449. To ask the Minister for Health if he will provide justification for a scenario whereby persons are charged the full amount for their hospital stay, even when they are spending that time on a trolley for the entire duration, in many instances with no other facilities. [36184/15]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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All charges for public hospital in-patient and out-patient services are made in accordance with the Health Act 1970, as amended. The charge for public in-patient services is €75 per night, up to a maximum of €750 in a calendar year. The Emergency Department charge is €100 for each episode of care. Exemptions from these statutory charges are extended to certain cohorts including persons with full eligibility (medical card holders).

All persons who opt to be treated on a private basis on admission to hospital are liable for the statutory charges set out in the Fourth Schedule of the Act.

Issues around performance in Emergency Departments (ED) are being addressed by the ED taskforce. It is important to note that patients are being actively cared for during their ED attendance, regardless of where they are accommodated. According to the most recently published HSE Performance Assurance Report (for July 2015), 70.2% of patients attending ED were either admitted or discharged within 6 hours and 83.6% of patients were admitted or discharged within 9 hours. 2.8% of patients were in ED for more than 24 hours. These areas are a particular focus for hospitals and site specific plans are being prepared to improve performance. Each Hospital Group has implemented an escalation protocol for those patients whose wait time in ED is approaching 24 hours as part of the Winter Planning process.

While there is continued focus on reducing the number of patients on trolleys, it is important to note that treatment trolleys are routinely used in day surgery procedures such as colonoscopy and that in the case of a chemotherapy or dialysis patient, best practice is to treat him\her in a seated or reclining position, on a therapy chair or a recliner, rather than on a bed.