Vol. 471 No. 2
20 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Health the anticipated increase in demand for services by elderly people in the Eastern Health Board area over the next 25 years; the resources which will be made available for the provision of such services; the actual proposals, if any, there are to meet the expected demand; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20227/96]
Limerick East): As recognised by my Department's Health Strategy, Shaping a Healthier Future, the rapid rise in the number of elderly people poses a special challenge to the health services. This challenge is particularly acute in the Eastern Health Board where 30 per cent of the country's elderly population live and the number of elderly is expected to rise from the 1991 figure of 117,443 to approximately 176,000 by the year 2011.
The Eastern Health Board has taken appropriate action to meet the implications of a growing elderly population. Within the last five years, the number of day hospitals has increased from seven to ten; the mobile day hospital service has been extended; additional places for the appropriate care of the elderly have been provided; five specialist departments of medicine for the elderly and two specialist departments of psychiatry of old age have been established; and community ward teams have been introduced into each of the board's ten community care areas. Since the introduction of the Nursing Homes Act, 1990, to 31 August 1996, the number of beds subvented by the board in private and voluntary nursing homes has increased by approximately 784.
As the Deputy will be aware, the Eastern Health Board submitted a four-year action plan for the development of services for the elderly in the years 1995-98 to my Department in May, last year. This plan outlines how the board intends to strengthen the community care services and expand the provision of long-stay places for the elderly.
Already some progress has been made in 1996 with the opening of the community nursing unit at Navan Road and the introduction of additional community ward terms. As finances permit, my Department will continue to fund essential new developments for the elderly in the Eastern Health Board. The priorities for 1997 will be the opening of a community nursing unit on the site of the old Sir Patrick Dun's Hospital, plus a 25-bed unit at Peamount Hospital and the further extension of the community ward scheme.
In the longer term, my Department supports the proposal of the Eastern Health Board to build a number of strategically placed nursing units in the board's catchment area.
