Vol. 574 No. 5
133 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Health and Children if there are sufficient hospital beds and nursing and medical staff to cater for requirements over the winter months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27586/03]
197 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Health and Children if adequate accident and emergency staff are available throughout the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27777/03]
203 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Health and Children the extent to which the current complement of medical, nursing or consultant staff is adequate to meet requirements based on international norms; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27783/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 133, 197 and 203 together.
At the outset I would refer the Deputy to the very comprehensive and detailed answer which I provided him in reply to parliamentary questions raised by him on the 9 October 2003 last on hospital services and medical staffing.
The chief executive officer of each individual health board has responsibility for the management of the workforce, including the appropriate staffing mix and the precise grades of staff employed within that board, in line with service plan priorities, subject to overall employment levels remaining within the authorised ceiling.
Following the accident and emergency nurses strike in March 2002 the Labour Relations Commission put forward a number of proposals in the area of accident and emergency management. It was agreed that the bed management function was fundamental to the consistent application of admission and discharge policy. In May 2002, CAPITA Consulting were commissioned by the Health Service Employers Agency, HSEA, to carry out a national review of the bed management function. This review made specific recommendations that will assist hospitals to structure more effective and integrated bed management departments. The implementation of the recommendations contained in the CAPITA report are now being progressed by a combined management and nursing union steering group under the chairmanship of the HSEA.
The HSEA also commissioned a detailed two stage staffing review of nurse staffing levels required in 36 dedicated emergency departments around the country. The staffing review examined existing structures and staffing levels in emergency medicine departments and included an assessment of the appropriate support, professional nursing role, skills and structures required. The second stage of the review has just been completed and the draft final report has been presented. As part of the process of considering the final report it is expected that the consultants will make a presentation on their findings to management and nursing unions in the near future.
The single most important factor for admission to hospital is bed availability. A report entitled Acute Hospital Bed Capacity – A National Review, carried out by my Department, identified a requirement for an additional 3,000 acute beds in acute hospitals by 2011 and this requirement is reflected in the Government's health strategy, Quality and Fairness – A Health System for You. Some 568 of these beds have been commissioned to date.
