Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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879. To ask the Minister for Health to address the patient-on-trolley figures in Naas Hospital in May 2025 (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34312/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I would like to assure the deputy that every measure is being taken to reduce the instances of patients on trolleys in Naas General Hospital and in all our Emergency Departments.

We are making progress in reducing the number of patients on trolleys nationwide and intensive work is ongoing with the HSE in this regard. This reduction has been achieved despite a significant increase in the number of patients presenting to Emergency Departments, particularly in cohort of patients aged 75 years and older.

The improved performance seen in 2024 and the first half of 2025 sustains the improvements achieved with the implementation of the 2023 UEC Operational plan. The HSE in partnership with the Department of Health are developing the 2025-2026 UEC Operational Plan which will be presented to government in the coming weeks.

Priority actions are set out under four operational pillars: Hospital avoidance, Emergency Department operations, In-hospital care delivery and Discharge management. The actions are focused on balancing system capacity and demand while optimising patient flow.

Amongst the initiatives involved in the plan are:

• Vaccine Preventable Illness: The HSE is promoting the uptake of Influenza, Measles and COVID-19 vaccinations to improve compliance for all target groups including Healthcare Workers and Specialist Care in the Community

• Community Specialist Teams (CSTs) for Chronic Disease Management to deliver 19,000 patient contacts each month. CSTs for Older Persons will deliver 11,750 patient contacts each month

.• GP Out of Hours Work with GP Out of Hours Services to maintain/increase GP OOH contacts and reduce the level of GP OOH referrals to EDs

.• National Ambulance Service (NAS) Care Pathways Maximize usage of existing NAS alternative care pathways

.• Injury Units to provide a 7-day service, 8am to 8pm including Bank Holidays

.• Provide additional and extended hours for senior decision makers and staff integral to supporting 7/7 operations.

The budget allocation for Naas General Hospital (NGH) is over €130 million for 2025, an increase of 67% from 2020. Staffing numbers at the hospital have continued to grow, with a total of 1,003 WTE in March 2025. This is an increase of 32% compared to the end of 2020.