Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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229. To ask the Minister for Health the proportion of the €600 million announced as part of the winter plan that will be allocated to University Hospital Limerick; if a crisis response to the overcrowding in the emergency department of the hospital will be sanctioned as a result; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27516/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The HSE published its Winter Plan on 24th September. The HSE Winter Plan aims to reduce the number of patients waiting on trolleys for hospital admission by 30% and to improve Patient Experience Times, particularly in terms of keeping everyone safe while we respond to Covid-19. It aims to enable patients to be seen in the community wherever possible by providing a better service in community health care settings; to receive timely care in hospital when this is necessary; and to return home or to appropriate care settings when fit to leave hospital by providing more homecare and stepdown options. It aims to deliver 4.76 million more home support hours to facilitate this.

There are additional supports in the HSE Winter Plan for people at greater risk including the elderly, homeless, and those with chronic illnesses to allow them to stay at home. It also provides additional Community Healthcare Networks, 36 more Community Specialist Teams and 11 additional acute hospital ‘Front of House’ Frailty Intervention Teams. This will create the foundation and organisational structure through which integrated care will be provided locally within the community at the appropriate level of complexity.

The HSE Winter Plan aims to deliver 79,000 more diagnostics in the community, again allowing patients to be seen closer to home and avoid going to hospital. The Plan puts in place supports for GPs, particularly those in rural practices, to support service continuity. A key action will be a comprehensive flu vaccination programme. The HSE has placed orders for approximately 1.35 million doses of the Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccine, as well as 600,000 doses of the Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine, which will be made available to children aged from 2 to 12 years old inclusive.

In relation to the particular query raised, as this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.