Gay Mitchell
Question:10 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Health and Children his plans to invest in hospitals in the Dublin region. [6716/03]
Other Questions. - Hospital Services.
Responsibility for the provision of acute hospital services in the Dublin region rests with the Eastern Regional Health Authority. The authority is supporting a wide range of developments in the hospital sector in Dublin and the eastern region. Last year I announced the implementation of the first phase of the bed capacity initiative. Under this initiative, 335 additional beds were approved for acute hospitals in the eastern region. Hospitals in the Dublin area which are benefiting under this initiative are St. James's Hospital, St Vincent's University Hospital, Elm Park, incorporating St Michael's Hospital, Dún Laoghaire Hospital, Temple Street Hospital, Beaumont Hospital and St. Joseph's Hospital, Raheny.
Funding was provided to the Eastern Regional Health Authority to commission 229 of these beds in 2002. This is the figure the ERHA stated it could commission in a report to the Department. Additional funding has been notified to the authority for the commissioning in 2003 of the remaining beds in the region. The total additional revenue investment in the eastern region in 2003 for the provision of these additional beds is €40 million.
Under the national development plan, the ERHA is also supporting a range of capital developments within the acute hospital sector in the Dublin region. Major capital projects under construction include: the phase 1 redevelopment of St. Vincent's Hospital, Elm Park; phase 1H of St. James's Hospital; the re-equipping and major refurbishment at Beaumont Hospital; the provision of additional facilities at St. Columcille's Hospital, Loughlinstown; the provision of new theatres at Our Lady's Hospital, Crumlin; the redevelopment of facilities at the Rotunda Hospital; and the major redevelopment of James Connolly Memorial Hospital. A number of additional projects are at planning stage including, for example, the new Mater Hospital-Temple Street Development.
In the current year, additional revenue funding has been made available to the ERHA in the following areas: €9.4 million to support the consolidation of acute hospital services; €9.8 million to address oncology service pressures; €4.5 million to meet the cost of developing the national lung transplantation programme; €13.5 million to support the continuation of the waiting list initiative; €700,000 to further develop renal services in the region; and €900,000 to further develop cardiac services in the eastern region.
Funding has also been provided to meet the cost of recruiting additional consultants in emergency medicine and consultant anaesthetists. The application of these moneys to individual hospitals, including those in the Dublin region, is the subject of discussion between the ERHA and the individual hospitals. I am satisfied that the level of investment I have outlined represents tangible evidence of the commitment by this Government to the continuing development of hospital services in the Dublin region.
The parents group of the children's hospital in Crumlin recently commissioned a report which was damning of the physical infrastructure of the hospital and makes clear that a new hospital needs to be built. How committed is the Minister to financing the rebuilding of the hospital? He indicated there would be a phased programme of investment in the hospital. Building an entire hospital on a phased basis, as the term is understood by the Department and the Minister, could take 150 years. Will a timeframe be specified for the reconstruction of the hospital?
Will the Minister confirm there are no new beds being provided for 2003? The allocation was made on the basis that 700 new beds would be provided in 2002. How is one to reconcile the investment in terms of capital funding being made by the Minister which will result in new beds with the possibility that beds currently in use will be taken out of commission in hospitals which cannot continue to provide services because of cutbacks they are being forced to make? How are we to compare the respective positions of capital and revenue funding when the Minister does not provide the information requested? I have just gone through the information he provided as a result of my first question.
An Leas-Cheann Comhairle
I ask the Deputy to be brief as we are approaching the end of questions.
He has not answered the basic question as to what deficits existed at the beginning of the year in the major hospitals in Dublin and what the estimated deficit—
An Leas-Cheann Comhairle
I ask the Minister to give his reply as the time has concluded.
—will be at the end of the year unless cutbacks are made? The ERHA is requiring hospitals to make cutbacks of between 10% and 12%. How will hospitals be able to provide new beds if they must close current beds?
With regard to Deputy Olivia Mitchell's question on the hospital in Crumlin, I recently met the group to which she referred. The national development plan does not provide for the total rebuilding of the children's hospital in Crumlin. No one wants to get involved in a blame game as to the reason this occurred but, as far as I understand it, the relevant plans did not emerge in time.
Up to €30 million has been spent to date on the hospital in respect of new operating theatres. This was an earlier commitment which I saw through in terms of financial allocation. In addition, last year I made provision for a new MRI scanner at the hospital. We have a project team in place which is drawing up a development control plan for the hospital. We hope the brief will be ready by the end of the year, after which a design team will be appointed.
Oncology and cardiology are the priorities at the Crumlin hospital and we are anxious to advance both specialties. The control team will report back on the optimal phasing in and upgrading of the hospital. I am committed to upgrading the physical environment of the hospital to the norms which should pertain to a tertiary hospital of this kind. The hospital has done great work for children through the generations. It is important to note that, notwithstanding the physical shortcomings of the building, outstanding care is being provided to children from across the country in a variety of specialties by the team operating there. I regard the physical features of the current building as unacceptable.
On Deputy McManus's questions, prior to this I have never been asked to project 12 months ahead to determine the extent of deficits. This has never been done before and will not be done now.
The Minister is asking hospitals to do precisely that.
It would be a ridiculous scenario to contemplate.
An Leas-Cheann Comhairle
That concludes questions.
The hospitals already have that information.
An Leas-Cheann Comhairle
I must conclude questions.
I want to make the point that I provided the deficits incurred by each hospital in 2002 for last year in my answer. The figures are in the reply. I will qualify that by pointing out that we will have more exact figures by the end of March when the accounts are returned. The idea that we will make projections on annual deficits in February—
We already have the figure for Beaumont Hospital.
An Leas-Cheann Comhairle
We must conclude as we have gone over the time for questions.
The Deputy knows that under the 1996 legislation introduced by her party, which we support, hospitals must manage within the envelopes they receive.
An Leas-Cheann Comhairle
I note Deputy Finian McGrath has been in the House for most of the evening waiting for his question – No. 12 – to be taken. We took ten questions. If Members abided by Standing Orders and the directions of the Chair, his question would have been reached. It is unfair to other Deputies who are waiting patiently for questions to be answered when Members ignore the Chair's call to abide by Standing Orders. I ask Members to keep that in mind.
Written Answers follow Adjournment Debate.