Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 December 2015
151. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Health how the so-called winter capacity funding to support acute hospitals has been used to date; the initiatives that were funded by hospital group and by individual hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44499/15]
View answerLast December I convened the ED Taskforce to assist in dealing with the challenges presented by ED overcrowding. Significant progress has been made to date on the ED Taskforce Plan implementation.
Additional funding of €16.9m (€8.9m revenue and €8m capital) was provided in July to support acute hospitals over the winter period. This ‘winter capacity’ funding is being applied to a range of initiatives including additional bed capacity. In preparation for the 2015/16 winter period, hospital groups have provided comprehensive winter resilience plans to the HSE, outlining how they will implement an integrated approach across primary, community, social and acute services to manage winter pressures. This approach is intended both to avoid unnecessary admissions to acute hospitals and to expedite discharges from hospital efficiently.
As this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly. If he has not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days he should contact my Private Office and my officials will follow up the matter.
