Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 January 2019
389. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Health when all beds housed within the short-stay ward at Letterkenny University Hospital will be operational; the number of additional personnel that have been allocated to the service and unit for 2019; the job titles of posts that have been allocated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2522/19]
View answerAs Minister for Health, I recognise that hospitals are increasingly operating at or above capacity, with year-round demand pressures that are further challenged over the winter months. It is against this background that the Health Service Capacity Review 2018 recommended an increase in acute hospitals beds of over 2,600 by 2031 to support the projected increase in demand for services in the years ahead.
Increasing capacity is therefore a priority for the Government. Over the past 12 months, an additional 240 beds have been opened.
A Capacity Programme for 2019 has been agreed which provides for the following increases to capacity, as set out in the National Service Plan 2019
- 78 additional beds are planned for Quarter 1 of 2019, including the 40 bed modular build in South Tipperary General Hospital and the 30-bed ward in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital Drogheda;
- 75 acute beds and 70 community beds to come on stream in 2019, as part of the Winter Plan 2018/19, including 5 additional beds in Letterkenny University Hospital due for opening in quarter 1 2019;
- preparation of 202 beds, of which 16 are critical care, by quarter 4 2019 with a view to bringing this extra capacity into operation in the first quarter of 2020, including additional beds in Letterkenny University Hospital.
In relation to the Deputy's query on when the beds will be operational, the number of additional personnel and the job titles of posts that have been allocated for 2019, as this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to reply to the Deputy directly.
