David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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1872. To ask the Minister for Health the number of acute inpatient beds funded in budget 2021 that have been delivered and that are expected to be delivered by year end. [35673/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of Health is working with the HSE to increase acute capacity in hospitals throughout the country. The Government allocated €236 million revenue and €40 million capital expenditure as part of Budget 2021 to fund 1,146 additional acute beds on a permanent basis by the end of 2021 (excluding critical care beds). A number of beds have been postponed for operational reasons, giving a new target of 1,063.

As of the 6th of May, the HSE has reported that 834 of these beds had opened. This represents a significant step towards achieving the recommendations in the 2018 Health Service Capacity Review.

With regard to the number of beds that have opened since, as this relates to an operational issue, it is a matter for the HSE. However, members of the Oireachtas are advised that the HSE is currently unable to access the information to answer Parliamentary Questions due to the recent cyber-attack, which has required a temporary shut-down of HSE IT systems. The disruption to service is on-going, and the HSE is working hard to restore its IT capacity and resume normal services. Members of the Oireachtas will be advised as soon as the HSE is again in a position to provide responses to PQs and are encouraged to resubmit their Parliamentary Questions at that point.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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1873. To ask the Minister for Health the number of ICU beds funded in budget 2021 that have been delivered and are expected to be delivered by year end. [35674/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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At the start of last year, permanent adult critical care capacity was 255 beds, according to the National Office of Clinical Audit. Funding for 40 additional beds was provided in March 2020, initially on a temporary basis, as part of the response to Covid-19.

The Strategic Plan for Critical Care aims to bring permanent capacity to 321 by the end of 2021 and to 446 in the longer term. Budget 2021 allocated €52m to the implementation of this Strategic Plan. This will retain permanently the 40 beds provided in 2020 and will add further new build capacity to bring baseline permanent capacity to 321 beds by year end. This funding also allows for workforce planning and education initiatives to grow the critical care workforce.

The HSE's Critical Care Programme has advised that 42 of the 66 beds funded for 2021 are now permanently in place. The number of beds open on any given day fluctuates as a result of a variety of factors. Recruitment and capital works are ongoing to open the remaining beds as soon as possible.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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1874. To ask the Minister for Health the breakdown of the revenue cost estimate for each bed type, that is, acute inpatient bed, ICU bed, sub-acute bed and community bed, by cost type. [35675/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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In relation to the particular query raised, as this relates to an operational issue, it is a matter for the HSE. However, members of the Oireachtas are advised that the HSE is currently unable to access the information to answer Parliamentary Questions due to the recent cyber-attack, which has required a temporary shut-down of HSE IT systems. The disruption to service is on-going, and the HSE is working hard to restore its IT capacity and resume normal services. Members of the Oireachtas will be advised as soon as the HSE is again in a position to provide responses to PQs and are encouraged to resubmit their Parliamentary Questions at that point.

Pending this we have provided an interim response below:

The HSE advised in 2019, that the average daily running cost of an in-patient hospital bed across acute hospitals is €878 per night.

In relation to capital expenditure, several factors determine the capital cost of a hospital bed. These include the nature of the bed (day case, in-patient/overnight, intensive/critical care, etc.), and the bed’s location (within an existing hospital, within a new extension to an existing hospital or through the development of a new hospital). As such, there is no one capital cost for providing an additional hospital bed. A review of acute hospital beds currently in construction or recently completed determined an estimated average capital cost per bed of €375,000, including some enabling costs.

However, these figures do not represent or imply a universal capital cost for hospital beds. Larger projects will require additional developments on acute hospital sites (for instance the installation of bigger kitchens, OPD, utility enhancements or relocation of services) which would incur additional costs.

Regarding the estimated annual per unit cost of permanently adding additional ICU beds to the public health system, the cost of a critical care bed has several determining factors. The HSE has advised that a new critical care bed will typically cost between €1m and €1.5m, depending on a variety of factors, including design, construction, equipping and all other associated capital costs. The HSE has advised that the average annual cost of running a critical care bed has been estimated by the HPO, based on 2018 data, to be €747k per annum. However, it should be noted that this figure includes costs for both ICU and HDU beds, with the ICU beds the more expensive of the two.

In regards to the Intermediary Care bed scheme (Budget: €125m)

Private beds: There is a budget of €29m for this, to April the spend is €9.5m. The average cost per bed is €1,300 per week however there are some more specific service provision beds that cost more.

Acute Beds: The budget is €20m for 159 beds at an average cost of €2,500.

Community beds: This information is not currently available- data has been sought from HSE in relation to the cost of community beds.