Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 3 Feb 1998

Vol. 486 No. 3

Written Answers. - Hospital Closures.

Ivor Callely

Question:

171 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of hospitals that have been closed in the Eastern Health Board area over the last ten years; and the number of hospital beds in the system per head of population for the years 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990 and 1995. [2424/98]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Cowen)

I presume the Deputy is referring to acute general hospitals of which the following have been closed in the Eastern Health Board area over the past ten years.

Name of Hospital	Date Closed
Monkstown Hospital	July 1987
Jervis Street Hospital	November 1987
St. Laurence's Hospital	November 1987
Dr. Steevens' Hospital	December 1987
Royal City of Dublin Hospital (Baggot Street)	December 1987
St. Anne's Hospital	December 1997

The second part of the Deputy's question is taken to refer to in-patient beds in publicly funded acute hospitals and in district hospitals where the average length of stay is less than 30 days. Data for 1960 are not available and the following figures indicate beds per 1,000 population in the Eastern Health Board area for each of the years 1970, 1980, 1990 and 1995 respectively: 7.1, 5.9, 4.0 and 3.9.

In looking at acute hospital service delivery I feel it is inappropriate to focus solely on bed numbers as a measure of hospital resources. In recent years, more emphasis has been placed on an overall levels of service provided in acute hospitals rather than on the provision of a specific number of beds. This is a reflection of the major changes in medical practice which have resulted in a reduction in the length of stay for in-patient care and a marked shift towards day case surgery and treatment of patients at out-patient level.