Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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467. To ask the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to instructions given to nurses to physically remove patients from beds; the details of such instructions, if they are still in place; the rationale for these instructions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39789/16]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I became aware of a memo of legal advice, issued by the HSE’s legal advisors, to the National Director for Acute Hospitals on 27 October. Immediately, my Department contacted the HSE, and the HSE confirmed that it had been rescinded.

I have stated publicly that the memo was offensive and unacceptable and is utterly out of line with Government policy on the care of patients and its vision for the health service. The HSE has confirmed that the memo does not reflect the policy of the HSE. It is not in accordance with the HSE's espoused values of care, compassion and trust. It was written as legal advice and should never have been circulated at hospital and staff level.

A core aim of our health service is to ensure that every person can access safe, compassionate and high quality healthcare. With that in mind, the HSE are implementing measures under the Winter Initiative Plan 2016/17 that are reducing delayed discharges, by increasing capacity within our Healthcare system. The Initiative provides €40 million of additional funding to manage the expected winter surge in demand for hospital care.

Under the Winter Initiative to date, over 3,343 patients have availed of aids and appliances, enabling them to be discharged from hospital sooner. Over 475 additional home care packages have been made available, and over 251 additional transitional care beds have been approved. In addition, 18 step-down beds, and 10 acute beds have been opened to date. Community Intervention Teams, as a whole, have received almost 25,000 referrals by end November, with 262 additional referrals enabled by the Winter Initiative.

The HSE are on target to meet the target of less than 500 delayed discharges by 1 January 2017. Delayed discharges are currently at 553 as of 6 December 2016. In order to maintain a tight focus on implementation, I am meeting the HSE on a weekly basis to monitor progress on the Initiative.