Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 July 2021
1874. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the breakdown of the revenue cost estimate for each bed type, that is, acute inpatient bed, ICU bed, sub-acute bed and community bed, by cost type. [35675/21]
View answerIn relation to the particular query raised, as this relates to an operational issue, it is a matter for the HSE. However, members of the Oireachtas are advised that the HSE is currently unable to access the information to answer Parliamentary Questions due to the recent cyber-attack, which has required a temporary shut-down of HSE IT systems. The disruption to service is on-going, and the HSE is working hard to restore its IT capacity and resume normal services. Members of the Oireachtas will be advised as soon as the HSE is again in a position to provide responses to PQs and are encouraged to resubmit their Parliamentary Questions at that point.
Pending this we have provided an interim response below:
The HSE advised in 2019, that the average daily running cost of an in-patient hospital bed across acute hospitals is €878 per night.
In relation to capital expenditure, several factors determine the capital cost of a hospital bed. These include the nature of the bed (day case, in-patient/overnight, intensive/critical care, etc.), and the bed’s location (within an existing hospital, within a new extension to an existing hospital or through the development of a new hospital). As such, there is no one capital cost for providing an additional hospital bed. A review of acute hospital beds currently in construction or recently completed determined an estimated average capital cost per bed of €375,000, including some enabling costs.
However, these figures do not represent or imply a universal capital cost for hospital beds. Larger projects will require additional developments on acute hospital sites (for instance the installation of bigger kitchens, OPD, utility enhancements or relocation of services) which would incur additional costs.
Regarding the estimated annual per unit cost of permanently adding additional ICU beds to the public health system, the cost of a critical care bed has several determining factors. The HSE has advised that a new critical care bed will typically cost between €1m and €1.5m, depending on a variety of factors, including design, construction, equipping and all other associated capital costs. The HSE has advised that the average annual cost of running a critical care bed has been estimated by the HPO, based on 2018 data, to be €747k per annum. However, it should be noted that this figure includes costs for both ICU and HDU beds, with the ICU beds the more expensive of the two.
In regards to the Intermediary Care bed scheme (Budget: €125m)
Private beds: There is a budget of €29m for this, to April the spend is €9.5m. The average cost per bed is €1,300 per week however there are some more specific service provision beds that cost more.
Acute Beds: The budget is €20m for 159 beds at an average cost of €2,500.
Community beds: This information is not currently available- data has been sought from HSE in relation to the cost of community beds.
