John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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74. To ask the Minister for Health the number of beds that were allocated to University Hospital Waterford in the recent winter hand-out allowance for overcrowded hospitals; the number of beds allocated, by hospital, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3931/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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As part of the winter capacity planning initiative for 2015/16, an additional 301 beds were commissioned to open on a phased basis to ease pressures in emergency departments. 202 of these beds are open to date and it is expected that the remainder will be available by the end of February. In addition, the HSE identified a further 154 closed beds in the system, which it is intended to re-open in order to support hospitals during the winter period. Currently, 111 of these beds are available.

The detailed information sought by the Deputy on the location of the additional beds is set out in the tables below. It should be noted that the numbers identified are the beds available at a particular date in time. The number of beds available can, of course, fluctuate due to short term closures, such as, for example, infection control measures. I understand that, while no additional beds were commissioned in University Hospital Waterford (UHW) directly under the initiative, 48 beds have been made available in the South/South West Hospital Group, of which UHW is a constituent hospital; 30 of these beds have been opened to date.

Along with other acute hospitals, UHW has prepared a winter capacity plan to help address the expected increase in demand for services. Measures taken have included opening additional beds as required, better managing patient flow, discharging patients appropriately, providing internal surge capacity, both of beds and staff, as well as prioritising diagnostics for in-patients to facilitate their earlier discharge. A new Community Intervention Team is now in place to help manage the clinical needs of some patients within the community, obviating their need for admission or reducing their length of stay in the hospital.

In addition to UHW’s winter planning measures, the HSE has approved further funding to support the opening of an additional 15 beds in UHW. I am advised that staff recruitment to support these beds is currently being progressed.

Table 1: Additional capacity to open during winter period.

Table 2: Additional capacity being progressed over and above the 301 beds agreed in July 2016.

Table 3: Closed beds in the process of re-opening.

*No additional beds have been opened yet, pending recruitment of required staff which is ongoing.