Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 8 March 2017
247. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health the extent to which adequate long-term care continues to be provided for in the public sector having particular regard to the need to retain adequate accommodation thereby alleviating the burden on acute hospitals already affected by bed shortages; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12409/17]
View answerThe Nursing Homes Support Scheme (NHSS) is a system of financial support for those in need of long-term nursing home care. Participants contribute to the cost of their care according to their income and assets while the State pays the balance of the cost. The Scheme aims to ensure that long-term nursing home care is accessible and affordable for everyone and that people are cared for in the most appropriate settings. Funding for the Scheme in 2017 is €940 million. This represents an increase of €18.5 million on 2016 expenditure, and will enable an additional 500 people to be supported in 2017, increasing the numbers supported under the Scheme to just over 23,600 by the end of the year.
As the Deputy may be aware , the HSE launched the ‘Winter Initiative Plan 2016-2017’ in September 2016 which provided €40 million of additional funding for winter preparedness and to assist hospitals to deal with increased demand. A key focus of the Winter Initiative is to improve access for hospitals to social care and community measures to discharge patients, when deemed clinically appropriate, to return home or to a more appropriate community setting. Since the start of the Winter Initiative delayed discharges have reduced nationally from 638 to 517, freeing up hospitals beds to alleviate ED pressures.
In addition the Winter Initiative was cognisant of the need to support increased bed capacity within the system and as such 90 additional beds have been opened at the following hospitals: Galway University Hospital, the Mater Hospital, Beaumont Hospital, the Regional Midland Hospital Tullamore, the Regional Midland Hospital Mullingar and the Mercy Hospital in Cork.
My Department has also commenced a bed capacity review in line with the Programme for Government commitment. The intention is that this review will be broader than previous exercises that focused solely on acute bed capacity. While the exact parameters of the review are still subject to considerations, I expect that it will seek to take into account, to some degree, other factors which affect hospital capacity.
