Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 December 2016
244. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health the number of primary care centres currently fully staffed and operational; the extent to which evidence exists of the alleviation of overcrowding in hospital accident and emergency departments as a result; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38216/16]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, the Programme for a Partnership Government commits to a decisive shift towards primary care so that we can provide better care close to home for communities around the country. Primary Care Centres facilitate the shift from acute care towards primary care through the range of multi-disciplinary services they can provide and the role they can play in keeping people who don't need to be in an acute setting out of hospital. There are 97 Primary Care Centres now in operation, 40 centres are in construction or at advanced planning stage. A further 43 locations are at preliminary stages of development.
There is a range of initiatives and services provided in a primary care setting and which I hope to see further developed, which are intended to prevent unnecessary hospital admission or attendance and to facilitate early discharge of patients. These initiatives include the implementation of Community Intervention Teams (CITs), Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy (OPAT), Ultrasound Diagnostics and the GP Minor Surgery Pilot Initiative.
With 13 CIT teams in place, there have been over 22,667 referrals from January to October of this year which have reduced hospital bed requirements by approximately 76 beds per day. Referrals to CITs from Emergency Departments and hospital wards have increased by 58.4% in 2016 compared to the same period last year. Referrals from GPs to CITs have increased by 31.9% over the same period.
A project to increase access to diagnostic services in GP surgeries is currently delivering approximately 1,500 ultrasounds per month, while the GP Minor Surgery pilot has delivered just over 4,200 procedures since commencement. Also, usage of out-of-hours GP services from January to September 2016 has increased by 11%, compared to the same period last year.
The 2016/2017 Winter Initiative provides for the expansion of Community Intervention Team services in four areas (Dublin North, Louth/Meath, Galway/Roscommon and South Tipperary) with potential to support more than 6,500 additional patients through the winter and during 2017.
As the provision of Primary Care Centres and related staffing and service matters are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive (HSE), I have arranged for the question to be referred to the HSE for direct reply to the Deputy.
