Richard Bruton
Question:283 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Health the number of (a) public beds and (b) private beds in acute hospitals in each health board area.
Written Answers. - Hospital Bed Numbers.
The number of acute hospital beds will vary from time to time. The table below sets out the number of acute beds in each health board area on 11/1/1991.
Number of acute beds in each Health Board area on 11/1/1991.
|
Eastern Health Board |
5,061 |
|
Midland Health Board |
543 |
|
Mid-Western Health Board |
823 |
|
North-Eastern Health Board |
1,017 |
|
North-Western Health Board |
444 |
|
South-Eastern Health Board |
1,073 |
|
Southern Health Board |
1,688 |
|
Western Health Board |
1,238 |
|
Total |
11,887 |
It has not been possible to date to give a precise breakdown between the number of public and private beds in public hospitals at any given time because patients admitted to hospital as medical emergencies are accommodated in any available bed and because of the diversity of practices among hospitals when designating beds occupied by the private patients of consultants.
The new eligibility arrangements and particularly the modification of the present arrangements for admission to public beds of the elective private patients of consultants, set out in theProgramme for Economic and Social Progress, will considerably ease the problems in determining the status of beds in acute public hospitals.