Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

314. To ask the Minister for Health the population that each community healthcare team serves in CH03, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5240/23]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

As the Health Service Executive (HSE) holds responsibility for the day-to-day provision of services, I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

315. To ask the Minister for Health if he has received the open letter from 87 consultants working out of University Hospital Limerick; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5243/23]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I would like to acknowledge the open letter from the 87 Consultants from the University of Limerick Hospital Group.

I share concerns at the significant challenges being experienced in Limerick and the Midwest, and the impact this has on patients and their families in the region.

I have engaged extensively with the Hospital Group and the HSE regarding the pressures being experienced at UHLG. I chaired a meeting earlier this month involving An Taoiseach, Mid-West Oireachtas Members, and senior management from the Hospital Group to discuss current issues at the Group.

There has been, and continues to be, substantial investment in ULHG, with almost €94m being provided since 2020 for a range of capital projects across the Group. Last October, I broke ground on a new 96-bed inpatient block project at UHL. This project will deliver a 4-storey, 96 single bed acute inpatient ward block and will go some way toward addressing capacity issues in the region. This is on top of other modular and rapid-build projects at UHL in recent years. We have also invested elsewhere across the Hospital Group, including the new Injury Unit at Ennis Hospital, and the state-of-the-art ward complex at Croom Orthopaedic Hospital, both of which opened in 2021. 

Separate to these initiatives, the HSE plans to develop five “Surgical Hubs” across the country, including one in Limerick. These Hubs will have an impact on waiting times. They will be modelled on the successful Reeves Centre at Tallaght University Hospital with its 4 fully operational day surgery theatres. The Centre has significantly reduced waiting times for certain day-care procedures.

The development of Surgical Hubs will support efforts to consider the necessary reforms and enablers needed to separate unscheduled and scheduled care pathways that will be required by the longer-term provision of the national Elective Care programme. 

The Surgical Hubs will, therefore, complement the larger Elective Hospitals, which will help to tackle waiting times on a national basis. These hospitals will provide significant additional capacity and will change the way in which day cases, scheduled procedures, surgeries, scans, and outpatient services are arranged across the country. Elective Hospitals will benefit the whole population, for example, it is envisaged that the new Cork and Galway facilities combined will cater for up to 350,000 patients/procedures annually, which will include many patients from the Midwest Region.

In relation to the delivery of the Surgical Hub for Limerick, planning is at an early stage. However, I have asked the HSE to expedite their development so that they are operational as soon as possible. 

The HSE Winter Plan for 2022-23 was published on the 11th of October. The Plan is supporting acute and community services this winter to respond to anticipated high levels of emergency attendances and admissions across the acute sector, long waiting times in EDs and high occupancy rates across acute hospital settings.

In addition to the national Winter Plan, there are bespoke site-level plans, including for Limerick. The local plans focus on local needs and build on integration between the community and acute hospital services. Measures in UHL include:

- the recruitment of extra staff including, two WTE Emergency Medicine consultants, both of whom have already started, and discharge co-ordinators to target patient flow;

- funding and opening the new Geriatric Emergency Medicine (GEM) unit at UHL, which has enhanced ED admission-avoidance for over-75s.

- the OPTIMEND service, which provides multidisciplinary assessment and intervention to the 75 years and older patient cohort in the ED, will be expanded initially by 25 additional staff this winter.

- improving access to diagnostics for both urgent and emergency attendances in the ED, and for GPs, and the enhancement of GP Out of Hours (OOH) supports; and

- the recruitment of admin staff and the creation of the Performance Management Office to drive the ongoing service improvements in ULHG.

I would like to assure the Deputy that my department continues to work closely with the HSE to ensure that the UL Hospital Group and the Midwest region is fully supported.