asked the Minister for Health if he will state, in the case of each of the hospitals under the control of the Dublin Health Authority, the number of patient-beds which were not in use by patients for a period of two weeks or more as at 31st March, 1970, and, in each case, the length of time for which the bed was not in use and the reason for such lack in use, whether shortage of hospital staff or otherwise.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Dublin Health Authority Hospitals.
3.
The position is that in St. Kevin's Hospital there were 25 beds in hospital 7 not in use since the end of 1968 due to the conversion of the building into a psychiatric out-patient clinic; there are 46 beds closed down in hospital 6 since July, 1969, while the building is being reconstructed as a psychiatric in-patient unit. There is a 30-bed ward in hospital 3 not in use for approximately 1½ years due to its general unsuitability for the treatment of patients. More recently additional beds in this hospital totalling 20 have also been discontinued on the grounds of unsuitability. In the case of the maternity hospital at St. Kevin's, the average number of beds vacant in the period prior to 31st March was 30 and this was due to a falling off in demand, which is expected to be temporary, following the development of expanded services in the new Coombe Hospital.
In St. Mary's Hospital, Phoenix Park, there are 45 beds not in use since the end of November last year due to a shortage of nursing staff.
A 40-bed unit in James Connolly Memorial Hospital, Blanchardstown, has been closed since August, 1969, owing to fluctuation in demand for accommodation for tuberculosis patients.
In Cherry Orchard Fever Hospital, a 26 bed ward has been closed for the past two years owing to a shortage of nursing staff. There is a further 26 bed ward which is kept vacant to serve as a smallpox unit if required, pending the completion of a new unit specially designed for this purpose.
In St. Columcille's Hospital, Lough-linstown, two beds in the surgical ward are kept vacant to cater for emergency accident cases. In the same hospital there were four beds in the maternity ward and ten cots in the paediatric unit vacant for a period of two weeks prior to 31st March, 1970, due to the fluctuation in demand for such accommodation which occurs from time to time.
May I ask the Minister if he is aware that there is great difficulty in getting geriatric beds for elderly patients from the Dublin area? The Minister has stated in his reply that there are 45 geriatric beds vacant in St. Mary's Hospital. If that is the case, would he not consider, as an urgent priority, providing nursing staff in that hospital in an effort to make some inroads into the great shortage of geriatric beds?
My information is that no patients have been refused admission despite the shortage of nursing staff.
Further, would the Minister not agree that the waiting list for admission to St. Mary's Hospital in the Phoenix Park is a very lengthy one and that it is, in fact, the longest for any hospital in Dublin?
I am not so aware but I would need notice of that question.