Vol. 534 No. 1
174 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Health and Children if his attention has been drawn to the overcrowding and understaffing at the various accident and emergency units in hospitals throughout the country, if his attention has further been drawn to the conditions under which staff have to work and which patients must tolerate, his proposals to deal with this issue and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10242/01]
I am aware of the difficulties being encountered by various hospitals which provide accident and emergency services. The levels of attendances at accident and emergency departments cannot be predicted accurately in advance. Periods of exceptional demand may be experienced and waiting periods for treatment may vary. This is particularly so during the winter period. However, every effort is being made to keep waiting times to a minimum.
I am committed to ensuring that A & E departments are in a position to respond to the need for their services. Additional funding has been targeted at hospitals providing accident and emergency services. This was used to free up beds for emergency admissions, to enhance staffing levels, to develop treatment/observation areas in accident and emergency departments and to improve access for general practitioners for urgent specialist opinion. A public education campaign has been undertaken, aimed at increasing public awareness regarding the appropriate use of accident and emergency departments and persuading persons with minor ailments to attend their general practitioner.
Capital funding has been provided for the development and enhancement of accident and emergency departments at St. Vincent's Hospital, Elm Park, Cork University Hospital and Tullamore General Hospital, as part of overall developments at these hospitals. These projects will begin construction in 2001. In addition, a major expansion of the accident and emergency department at St. James's Hospital has recently been approved by my Department.
The shortage of sub-acute beds has caused problems in that acute hospitals have not been able to discharge patients in sufficient numbers and quickly enough, to cater for new patients requiring admission. In order to respond to this, I provided a £32 million investment package aimed at alleviating anticipated service pressures and maintaining services to patients, particularly in the acute hospital sector, over the winter period. The investment package is being targeted at a number of key service areas, including the recruitment of an additional 29 accident and emergency consultants. The recruitment of additional consultants to this key area is designed to reduce any unnecessary delays experienced by patients attending A & E departments and to ensure that patients have improved access to a prompt senior clinical decision making service. Funding has also been provided for the contracting of additional private nursing home places by the Eastern Regional Health Authority (ERHA) and the health boards. The ERHA and the health boards have contracted 761 beds up to 2 April.
