Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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With thanks to the Deputy's office who clarified that the term used by the Minister was 'Virtual Wards' rather than 'Digital Wards'. The Minister used this term during his opening comments at the joint committee on health, which he attended last week. Virtual Wards have emerged as a viable clinical intervention, enabled by technology, that is a safe and efficient alternative to inpatient hospital care. Virtual wards support patients who would otherwise be in hospital to receive the acute care, monitoring and treatment they need in their own home. The testing of the model has demonstrated good health outcomes for service users in addition to significant cost savings and high levels of patient and clinician satisfaction. Virtual wards are already used in other countries and a clinical team from the HSE had the opportunity to see these in practice at the NHS last year.Virtual wards are being trialled in Limerick and Dublin this year and will be deployed more extensively if successful.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly. As the Deputy may be aware, management and administrative grade staff in the Fórsa union in the HSE commenced industrial action on Friday 6th October. As a consequence of this industrial action, members in these grades are not engaging with political forums or processes. As a result, the question asked by the Deputy may be delayed in receiving a response directly from the HSE.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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As this question relates to operational data, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly. As the Deputy may be aware, management and administrative grade staff in the Fórsa union in the HSE commenced industrial action on Friday 6th October. As a consequence of this industrial action, members in these grades are not engaging with political forums or processes. As a result, the question asked by the Deputy may be delayed in receiving a response directly from the HSE.