Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 January 2015
71. Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for Health his views on the report from the emergency task force on the crises in emergency departments here; the measures that will be put in place to resolve the crises in the short and long term; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2359/15]
View answerED overcrowding is a priority issue for me and for the Government and I acknowledge the difficulties which the current surge in ED activity is causing for patients, their families and the staff who are doing their utmost to provide safe, quality care in very challenging circumstances.
I convened the Emergency Department Taskforce last month to develop long term solutions to overcrowding by providing additional focus and momentum in dealing with the challenges presented by the current trolley waits. The Taskforce comprises senior doctors, lead hospital consultants, HSE National Directors, union representatives and senior officials from the HSE Acute Hospitals Directorate and the Department of Health.
The taskforce will provide additional focus and momentum in dealing with the challenges, complementing the ongoing work of the Special Delivery Unit and taking a service-wide approach including social care, primary care and acute care. The aim is to develop effective measures that will achieve sustainable, integrated and effective improvements across all services related to the ED trolley waits. Following a second meeting of the taskforce last week, the HSE is working on an action plan to be finalised by the end of the month to specifically address ED issues with a view to a significant reduction in trolley waits over the course of 2015.
In the interim, all hospitals have escalation plans to manage not only patient flow but also patient safety in a responsive, controlled and planned way that supports and ensures the delivery of optimum patient care. These plans include the opening of additional overflow areas, reopening of closed beds, provision of additional diagnostic scans and Consultants doing additional ward rounds to improve the appropriate flow of patients through the hospital system. The Government has provided additional funding of €3 million in 2014 and €25 million in 2015 to address delayed discharges and actions being taken include the provision of additional home care packages, additional transition beds in nursing homes, 300 additional Fair Deal places and an extension in Community Intervention Teams.
