Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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102. To ask the Minister for Health why, as of 29 April 2016, only 116 of 154 previously closed hospital beds were re-opened; the reason there has not been further re-openings; the progress made to date to increase capacity; the funding allocated and used to date for this purpose. [13696/16]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I am very conscious of the impact that long wait times in Emergency Departments can have on patients and their families.

In June 2015, additional funding of €18 million was made available to the HSE under the Winter Additional Capacity Initiative. The initiative identified 301 additional winter capacity beds that could be opened.

In some hospitals, beds have proved more challenging to open than envisaged, owing to difficulties in staff recruitment. However, as of 27 May 2016, 236 of 301 new beds have opened. In addition, 116 closed beds have re-opened, and a further 14 beds have been opened subsequently in Sligo.

In total, 366 new or re-opened beds have been made available. This extra capacity has enabled similar ED performance to the equivalent period of the previous year, despite a sustained increase in attendance.

Reviews of bed capacity and Medical Assessment Unit hours of service are key commitments in the Programme for a Partnership Government which are intended to alleviate hospital overcrowding.

Further, increases in the health budget, measures to increase bed capacity, along with new ED facilities and maximising the potential of units and services to treat patients outside of the hospital setting will all contribute to reducing hospital overcrowding and the time patients have to spend waiting in our EDs.