Performance of the public acute hospital sector must be considered within the context of the totality of hospital activity.
Data reported in the HSE Performance Report October to December 2016, indicate that, up to the end of November 2016, while elective inpatient discharges had reduced by 1.6% in comparison with the same period in 2015, daycase discharges increased by 1.9%. In addition, data to the end of November with respect to emergency inpatient discharges showed an increase of 4.2% in comparison with the same period in 2015, while 2016 saw an increase in ED attendances of 4.6% over the equivalent period in 2015.
This Government is committed to improving access to, and enhancing, health services. This commitment is reflected in the allocation in 2017 of the highest ever health budget of €14.6 billion.
In terms of increasing staffing, from 31 January 2016 - 2017, 135 additional hospital consultants, 216 extra non-consultant hospital doctors and 415 additional nurses and midwives have been employed by the HSE.
As the reduction of waiting times for the longest waiting patients is one of the Government’s key priorities, €20 million has been allocated to the NTPF in the Budget 2017, rising to €55 million in 2018. This funding will be dedicated to the provision of daycase and inpatient treatment to patients. Under the NTPF Daycase Initiative 2017, patients will commence receiving treatment during March.
Further, under the ‘Winter Initiative Plan 2016-2017’ €40 million of additional funding was provided to manage the expected winter surge in demand for hospital care, in an integrated way across primary, acute and social care. So far, the Initiative has delivered 90 additional beds in the Mercy Hospital Cork, University Hospital Galway, the Mater, Beaumont and Mullingar Hospital. A reduction in delayed discharges nationally from a high of 659 earlier in 2016 to 517 this week, has made additional hospital bed capacity available to alleviate ED pressures.
I, and my Department, continue to meet with senior HSE officials on a weekly basis to monitor performance regarding EDs and waiting lists.
