Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance)
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1333. To ask the Minister for Health if he will conduct a review of service and staffing levels across the health service and ensure that extra permanent posts are sanctioned to ensure that the service can increase its capacity on a permanent basis to deal with non-Covid-19 care and the almost one million persons on waiting lists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2628/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Budget 2021 and Budget 2022 provided funding for a large permanent expansion of the workforce, both for the shorter-term needs brought on by COVID-19 and the long-term needs to build capacity to deliver healthcare needs for the population . A total of 11,447 WTE have been hired between January 2020 to November 2021. These years have seen the largest and second largest annual increases in the workforce since the foundation of the HSE. Funding will continue to be provided for the staffing requirements of the health service and staffing increases will be determined by the healthcare delivery needs of the service areas providing care. 

In addition to this, the Department of Health is receiving technical support under the European Commission Technical Support Instrument (TSI) 2021 to develop a Health and Social Care Workforce Planning Strategy and Workforce Planning Projection Model based on international best practice. The project will be delivered by the Strategic Workforce Planning Unit in the Department of Health in the context of implementation of health service reforms and in collaboration with other DoH colleagues, HSE, and other Government Departments. Delivery of this project is expected to take 20 months from the commencement of the project in January 2022.

In terms of capacity building to address waiting lists, €236 million revenue and €40 million capital expenditure were provided nationally as part of the Winter Plan and Budget 2021 to fund an additional 1,146 beds on a permanent basis in our acute hospitals. A total of 813 additional acute and 73 sub-acute beds have opened since 1 January 2020. An additional 411 acute beds are scheduled to open in 2022, of which 167 are due to open in quarter 1.

In addition, the Department of Health, the HSE and the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) are working on initiating a comprehensive reform programme that will deliver a Multi Annual Waiting List Plan to address waiting lists and bring them in line with Sláintecare targets over the coming years. This work will be overseen by a Ministerial Taskforce chaired by the Secretary General of my Department and will include representatives from the HSE and NTPF. A 2022 Waiting List Action Plan is also under development and will form the first stage of the Multi Annual Waiting List Plan.