Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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607. To ask the Minister for Health the number of additional beds that have been provided to date under the winter plan; the breakdown under each category of bed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43452/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Programme for Government, Our Shared Future, commits to continuing investment in our health care services in line with the recommendations of the Health Service Capacity Review and the commitments in Project Ireland 2040.

The Health Service Capacity Review 2018 found that the net requirement in combination with health system reform is for an additional 2,590 hospital beds by 2031 (2,100 inpatient, 300 day case and 190 critical care). The National Development Plan provides for the addition of the full 2,590 beds by 2027.

This winter is expected to be particularly challenging due to the presence of Covid-19 and the uncertainty around the level of Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 healthcare demands. The Department of Health is working with the HSE to increase acute capacity in hospitals throughout the country to meet this and other health demands. Government allocated €236 million revenue and €40 million capital expenditure as part of Budget 2021 to fund additional acute beds on a permanent basis. This funding will provide, by the end of 2021, an additional 1,146 acute beds.

A proportion of these beds will be funded as part of the HSE’s Winter Plan 2020/21. The Winter Plan aims to provide additional health service capacity across a range of services. Initiatives comprise additional acute and community beds to increase acute capacity, help reduce admissions and facilitate egress.

This represents a significant step towards achieving the recommendations in the 2018 Health Service Capacity Review which found that an additional 2,100 inpatient acute beds were required, in a reform scenario, by 2031.

The Winter Plan progress report provided by the HSE on the 10th of December 2020 shows that a total of 466 acute, sub acute and intermediate care beds have been provided. Of these beds 239 were acute beds, 176 intermediate care, and the remaining 51 were sub acute beds.

As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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608. To ask the Minister for Health the way in which he is monitoring implementation of the winter plan; if he is receiving regular updates; when he last received an update on implementation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43453/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Government has allocated an unprecedented investment of €600m to support the early roll-out of an ambitious Winter Plan for 2020/2021 which in the context of the COVID 19 pandemic has the potential to be very challenging in terms of delivering unscheduled care. The Winter Plan will, inter alia, see an additional 892 acute beds, 484 sub acute beds, 631 additional rehabilitation beds, 4.7 million additional home support hours, additional community based services and an expanded flu vaccination programme to reduce pressure on hospital emergency departments.

In view of the scale of the investment it is important that implementation of the Plan is monitored and that the outcomes and outputs of the various elements of the plan are reported.

My Department has communicated to the HSE the reporting requirements to allow it to effectively monitor the Plan's implementation. The HSE has put in place a Programme Management Office to manage the implementation of the Plan. To date, the HSE has provided three progress reports, the most recent dated the 10th of December 2020. These reports provide information on 600 sub initiatives across five work streams. My Department continues to engage with the HSE regarding ongoing reporting and monitoring of the implementation of the Winter Plan to reflect information needs form various stakeholders.

Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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609. To ask the Minister for Health the number of critical care beds now in place, as provided for under the winter plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43454/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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At the start of the year, permanent adult critical care capacity in our public hospitals stood at 255 beds, according to the National Office of Clinical Audit. This included 204 Level 3 ICU beds and 51 Level 2 HDU beds. As part of the initial response to the pandemic, funding was provided for an additional 40 adult critical care beds in March 2020 as well as two paediatric beds. The HSE has advised that between 280 and 285 critical care beds are currently open, with the number open any given day subject to fluctuation in respect of available staff and other operational considerations.

Budget 2021 will allocate funding totalling €52m in 2021 to critical care. This will retain, on a permanent basis, the 42 critical care beds put in place on a temporary basis this year and add significant new capacity. Funded adult critical care beds will increase to 321 by end 2021, an increase of 66 over the baseline number of 255 funded beds in 2020.

The additional critical care beds referenced in the HSE Winter Plan are encompassed within the Budget 2021 allocation. Their inclusion in the plan reinforces the HSE's commitment to opening these beds over the winter 2020/2021 period.