John Browne
Question:122 Mr. Browne (Carlow-Kilkenny) asked the Minister for Health if he will outline his plans regarding the provision of hospital beds to cater for the estimated increase of 55,000 in the 65 years plus age group.
Written Answers. - Provision of Hospital Beds.
The report of the Working Party on Services for the Elderly "The Year Ahead— A Policy for the Elderly" recommended that—
"Every general hospital serving a catchment area of 80,000 should have a specialist department of medicine for the elderly.
Existing geriatric hospitals/homes/ longstay district hospitals, where appropriate, should provide the following range of services for elderly persons and their carers in each district
— assessment and rehabilitation
— convalescent care
— day hospital and/or day care services
— respite care to support caring relatives
— facilities for nursing highly dependent or terminally ill elderly patients who can no longer be cared for at home."
The recommendations of the report have been accepted by Government in principle and additional funding of £9 million has been made available since 1991 to improve services for the elderly as recommended in the report.
A proportion of the additional funding provided for Services for the Elderly in 1990, 1991 and 1992 was used to provide specialist units for the elderly in general hospitals. These units have or are being opened in Tullamore, Ennis, Letterkenny, the Mater and Meath Hospitals. The Programme for Economic and Social Progress includes a commitment to provide such units in the main general hospitals.
A proportion of the additional funding made available for the elderly has also been used to improve the quality of long stay accommodation, to provide a range of services appropriate to a community hospital and to provide additional long stay places for the elderly. TheProgramme for Economic and Social Progress includes commitments to extend respite facilities for the elderly and to ensure adequate numbers of extended care beds in those boards experiencing a rapid increase in the elderly population.
The commitment of this Government to improve hospital services for the expanding elderly population has been demonstrated by the level of additional funding made available for this purpose over the past three years. I intend to maintain this momentum to ensure that the elderly receive as high a quality of hospital service as possible and long stay care when required.