Vol. 508 No. 2
12 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Health and Children the reason operating theatres are lying idle or are being closed in view of the fact that there are enormous numbers of people awaiting hospital treatment; and if he will make the necessary resources available to ensure operating theatre space is used to the full. [18227/99]
An unprecedented level of investment is now taking place in acute hospital facilities under the current capital programme. In line with my strategy for the development of acute hospital services on a regionally self-sufficient basis, this process of investment is aimed at developing a strong network of regional and local general hospitals. In 1999, a total of £155 million has been provided for capital investment in the health services, a significant proportion of which has been directed into the acute hospital area.
Significant progress has also been made on the phased commissioning of new units completed under the capital programme. In 1999, a total of £11.5 million has been provided to meet the revenue costs associated with doing this. This is enabling major new facilities such as those completed under Phase 1 at University College Hospital, Galway and Phase 1 at the Mercy Hospital, Cork to be fully staffed and brought into service this year and has allowed significant progress to be made on the phased completion of commissioning the major developments at Limerick Regional Hospital. The further phased commissioning of units at Limerick Regional Hospital, including three remaining operating theatres, is being addressed in the context of revenue funding in 2000 and beyond. Eight theatres have been commissioned at the Adelaide and Meath Hospitals Incorporating the National Children's Hospital, Tallaght, in line with the agreed service plan for the hospital.
In addition to newly constructed theatres that have not yet been commissioned, operating theatres may be temporarily taken out of use to allow for refurbishment and maintenance works, staff annual leave or in line with the planned scheduling of elective activity in a hospital over a 12 month period.
In general terms, I am satisfied that the hospital system is delivering a satisfactory level of activity. In the first six months of 1999 overall discharges, in-patient and day cases, are up over 3.6 per cent over the same period in 1998, which itself had a record level of activity. Within this overall increase, day case work has increased by almost 12 per cent. This comes on top of an overall activity increase of 3 per cent in 1998 over 1997 levels. Allied with the reduction of 3,000 or some 8 per cent achieved on in-patient waiting list numbers in the target specialties over the first six months of this year, I am satisfied that effective use of available resources, including theatre capacity, is being made in the delivery of hospital services.
Would the Minister agree that at a time when there are 34,000 patients on hospital waiting lists, this is due to a gross failure to properly use existing resources. Limerick Regional Hospital has two main operating theatres and one day theatre constructed but not in use. University College Hospital Galway has two operating theatres constructed, available since October 1998 and not in use. The new Tallaght hospital has four theatres constructed and not in use. Would the Minister not acknowledge that if those theatres were commissioned and the necessary resources provided for staffing that they would dramatically impact on the hospital waiting lists in respect of which there are far too many people waiting for essential surgery for two, three and four years?
In relation to capital programmes for hospital projects, there is a need to phase in the commissioning of those units, for health safety reasons, for other reasons, and usually for revenue reasons. Therefore, when a capital project is completed at the tail end of one financial year, it may not be possible to provide the revenue in the following financial year because certain staffing levels have to be agreed, certain issues have to be decided upon and, in the following financial year one usually finds that they come into commission. In relation to commissioning units, the amount of money being spent by this Government is three times what was spent by my predecessor. One of the reasons for that is that we have a much enhanced capital programme and we have more places to open.
The Deputy will recall that there were particular problems in relation to the Tallaght hospital and that a consultancy study pointed out that there could be no question of further public moneys being given to Tallaght in terms of providing more services until we had established a capacity within that hospital to deal with the existing level of service for which it was given money last year. Thankfully, as a result of actions taken by me in appointing three people to go in and assist the board and management in relation to that matter, we have greatly stabilised the situation in Tallaght hospital. I have indicated that, upon that troika confirming to me that we now have established a competence capacity in that hospital, I am prepared to look at proceeding with the phased commissioning of further units at Tallaght as agreed and as set out in a Department of Health letter from my predecessor in 1996 – I understand the Deputy was supportive of the position at the time. If the Deputy wants to change tack now, I am telling him that he should develop some consistency in his approach. While availability of those theatres would, obviously, be helpful, it is not true to say they would have a dramatic impact on the overall waiting list figure, which is a function of 4 per cent of the total activity per year in our hospital system. That is not correct. It would obviously be of assistance and some work would be done, but to suggest that is the panacea that will solve the problem shows a pretty naive understanding of how hospitals work.
Is the Minister aware that two operating theatres were recently closed in Beaumont Hospital as a result of nurse shortages? How many theatres around the country have been closed for this reason?
There are two theatres in UCHG, three in Limerick Regional Hospital and four in Tallaght Hospital. We are aware that two theatres are temporarily closed in Beaumont Hospital and one in the Mater Hospital due to nursing shortages. One theatre is closed at the National Maternity Hospital in Holles Street for refurbishment. That is the position, as I understand it.
