asked the Minister for Health whether there is a shortage of beds in Dublin hospitals for people who are acutely ill; and, if so, the steps being taken to deal with this shortage.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers (Resumed). - Dublin Hospital Beds.
16.
In the Dublin area there are 4,250 general hospital beds available for acute treatment and of those 3,630 were, on average, occupied daily according to the statistics for 1971-72. This represents an average occupancy of 85 per cent. In that year the number of in-patients treated in these hospitals was 84,219.
The hospital services in Dublin are in general adequate to deal as in-patients with the numbers of patients who are acutely ill. What has given rise to recent difficulties is the growing volume of accident and emergency work and the impact this has, not only on the working of accident and emergency departments, but also on the availability of beds for planned patient admissions not in the accident or emergency classification. An indication of the pace of increase in the volume of accident and emergency work is given by the figures for patients brought to the hospital casualty departments by the Dublin Fire Brigade ambulance service. These rose from 520 in 1964 to 1,184 in 1972. Only a proportion of such patients would however require to be admitted as in-patients.
Various steps for easing this problem have been taken. As I told the Dáil in reply to the Deputy's question of 6th February, an improved and extended casualty department in Jervis Street is being built. Saint Laurence's Hospital and James Connolly Hospital have been brought into the accident service. In addition 40 extra back-up beds for adults have been made available in the Orthopaedic Hospital, Clontarf, and other beds are likely to be provided in the near future.
A feature of the Dublin general hospital situation which makes it very difficult to cope with this problem of the volume of unplanned emergency admissions, side by side with planned admissions, is the large number of relatively small hospital units. Proposals have been made for the reorganisation of the Dublin hospitals into a small number of larger units. I am considering the comments made on those proposals and I hope to make an announcement fairly soon.
I thank the Parliamentary Secretary for his comprehensive reply but I must say that the Littlejohns found it easier to escape from prison than it is for acutely ill people to enter hospital in this city.
Will the Deputy avoid making a statement?
Can the Parliamentary Secretary tell me what immediate steps are being taken? I spent time today in two hospitals, one a teaching hospital——
A question, Deputy.
I want to explain——
I am sorry, Deputy. A question.
I do not want to criticise the Chair. We saw what happened a few moments ago.
We have already had that. Plenty of it.
We will have to assert our democratic rights in this House. We are elected Members and people sent us here.
A question, Deputy.
If you are going to persecute the Fianna Fáil Party then do it straight.
The Deputy is dead right.
Of course, I am right. This is becoming intolerable altogether.
It is nonsensical. He will not let you even ask a question.
Deputy Moore, I am still awaiting a question.
I am trying, but you refuse to let me do it. I stated——
You may not state anything, Deputy. A question.
——that I visited two hospitals today—one a teaching and one a non-teaching hospital and could not get two people into either of them and then to have to listen to this type of thing, this trying to silence us here.