Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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151. To ask the Minister for Health his views on overcrowding in CUH Cork emergency department. [49925/18]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I wish to acknowledge the distress overcrowded EDs cause to patients, their families, and frontline staff working in very challenging working conditions in hospitals throughout the country.

This year has been characterised by high demand for unscheduled care, particularly among the 75 and over age group. By the end of October 2018, total attendances were up by 3.7% and admissions up by 2.5%, compared to the same period in 2017. For those aged 75 and over, by the end of October 2018, attendances were up by 5.7% and admissions up by 5.4%, compared to the same period in 2017. This increased demand was further exacerbated by the severe weather associated with Storm Emma and the extended Influenza outbreak earlier this year.

My Department is working with the HSE to ensure the most effective response to the winter challenges to unscheduled care provision. The HSE Winter Plan 2018/19, which is currently under consideration by my Department, provides for a 4-week enhanced focus period from 17 December 2018 to 13 January 2019, targeting 9 key sites of concern. Cork University Hospital has been identified as one of these 9 sites, based on performance in previous winters.

As part of Budget 2019, an additional €10m in funding is being provided in 2018 for social care measures to enable older people to leave hospital and return to a more appropriate care setting, including their own home, as quickly as possible with the supports they need. The HSE has confirmed that measures to support older persons transition from acute care to the most appropriate setting have been identified and that the 2018 initiatives have now commenced.

Increasing bed capacity is a priority of this Government. Over the past 12 months an additional 240 beds have been opened nationally, which included 30 additional acute beds and 2 critical care beds in Cork University hospital. An additional 78 beds are due to come on stream nationally in early 2019, including 4 High Dependency Beds in Cork University Hospital.

This increase in capacity does not take account of the impact of the €10 million in funding in Budget 2019 to increase acute bed capacity in line with the recommendations of the Health Service Capacity Review. My Department is currently in discussions with the HSE, in the context of the National Service Plan 2019, to identify the sites for investment and the associated number of beds, as part of an agreed capacity programme for 2019.

I have asked the HSE to ensure that the National Service Plan 2019 provides for a significant uplift in activity across acute, primary and community care, to manage critical demand pressures, most particularly on Emergency Departments, at the beginning and the end of the year.