Vol. 431 No. 8
79 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health if he will make a statement on the allegations made by the Chairman of St. Vincents Hospital Board that huge overcrowding of beds in hospitals in Dublin is putting patients at risk of getting infections such as hospital acquired pneumonia.
I presume the Deputy is referring to the comments made by the Chairman of the Medical Board of St. Vincent's Hospital in his report to the Annual General Meeting in April. The report relates exclusively to St. Vincent's Hospital. I would also point out that in addition to the issue of hospital acquired infection the report also states that St. Vincent's Hospital "is at the forefront of best practise in delivering cost effective and efficient care".
In relation to overcrowding, the Deputy may recall that, in my first week as Minister, I made special additional funds available to the Eastern Health Board to enable additional facilities for the elderly to be brought into use at that time. This facilitated the early discharge of patients who no longer required acute hospital care and thus freed up acute hospital beds in the six major Dublin hospitals, including St. Vincent's.
