Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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478. To ask the Minister for Health the number of additional specialist palliative care inpatient beds provided to date in 2019; and the location of same. [29772/19]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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479. To ask the Minister for Health if the new palliative care inpatient units in counties Waterford, Mayo and Wicklow will be opened in 2019. [29773/19]

Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 478 and 479 together.

Between 2011 and 2018, the number of specialist inpatient palliative care beds increased from 157 to 214, an increase of 36.3%. This is exclusive of the approximately 150 palliative care support beds provided in over 60 locations, specialist palliative care provided in 38 acute hospitals, and the community specialist palliative home care teams which provide palliative care in the homes of those requiring care.

No additional specialist palliative care have opened so far in 2019. However, the HSE’s 2019 National Service Plan commits to the full extension of service at St. Brigid's Hospice, Kildare this year and to opening three new inpatient units in Mayo, Waterford and Wicklow in quarter 4, with the latter three units expected to reach full capacity of 49 additional beds in 2020.

A further three units are planned for development in the coming years, serving people with specialist palliative care needs in the Midlands and Border regions. Once these inpatient units are opened, there will be at least one hospice in every CHO region.