Written answers
Thursday, 12 December 2019
Department of Health
Hospice Services Provision
Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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190. To ask the Minister for Health the number of hospices in each local health office area in tabular form. [52259/19]
Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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At present, there are 213 specialist palliative care or hospice beds in 10 locations nationwide, as set out in the table below. The number of hospice beds has increased by 44% over the past five years.
Table
| CHO | Service | Number of beds |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | North West Hospice, Sligo | 8 |
| 2 | Galway Hospice, Galway | 18 |
| 3 | Milford Care Centre, Limerick | 30 |
| 4 | Marymount Hospice, Cork | 44 |
| 4 | Kerry Hospice, Tralee | 15 |
| 6 | Our Lady's Hospice and Care Services, Blackrock | 12 |
| 7 | Our Lady's Hospice and Care Services, Harold's Cross | 36 |
| 7 | St. Brigid's Hospice, Kildare | 7 |
| 9 | St. Francis' Hospice, Raheny | 19 |
| 9 | St. Francis' Hospice, Blanchardstown | 24 |
| Total | 213 |
In line with the Programme for Government, my Department and the HSE are continuing to work with local communities to provide new or expanded specialist palliative care services. Funding was secured in Budget 2020 to open an additional 55 in-patient palliative care beds next year. 49 of these will be located in three new inpatient units in Mayo, Waterford and Wicklow, with a further 6 beds to be provided as part of an expanded service at St. Brigid's Hospice, Kildare.
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.
I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy on the provision of specialist palliative care by LHO area as soon as possible.
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