Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 7 April 2004
52 Mr. S. Ryan asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will report on the waiting lists for public nursing home beds in view of the fact that it is alleged that in the Dublin area there is a waiting list of up to 12.5 years; if, in view of this situation, he will consider availing of the country’s vacant beds in private nursing homes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10829/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy is aware, the administration of health services, including the placement of people into long-term care is, in the first instance, a matter for the Eastern Regional Health Authority and the health boards. I am aware that the Dublin acute teaching hospitals, DATHs, have been encountering problems with delayed discharges of patients whose acute phase of treatment has been completed and who require to be discharged to more appropriate facilities. The Deputy may be interested to know that I have been meeting on a regular basis with administrative and medical representatives of the ERHA, the area boards and the DATHs and that the most recent meeting took place yesterday at which I was advised by the authority that they have commenced a programme to re-open public extended care beds. I am, therefore, fully cognisant of the issues involved.
I understand that the ERHA has been making strenuous efforts to recruit staff in recent months and that these efforts are now starting to show results. In addition, additional funding of €8.8 million has been provided to the ERHA this year to facilitate the discharge of patients from the acute system to a more appropriate setting thereby freeing up acute beds. It allows for funding through the subvention system of additional beds in the private nursing home sector and ongoing support in the community. Already, this funding has resulted in the discharge of over 240 patients from acute hospitals in the eastern region to various locations, the vast majority to private nursing homes. The ERHA is actively monitoring the situation and working with hospitals, the area health boards and the private nursing home sector to ensure that every effort is made to minimise the number of delayed discharges in acute hospitals. I will continue to monitor the situation to ensure that, to the greatest extent possible, problems encountered by older people in the greater Dublin area in assessing services appropriate to their needs are minimised.
53 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for Health and Children if, in view of the interview given by the Taoiseach on RTÉ on 7 March 2004, in which he confirmed that the commitment given on 6 May 2002 that hospital waiting lists would be cleared within two years will not be met, it is still the Government’s objective that hospital waiting lists should be cleared; if he intends to set new deadlines for such an objective; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10800/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy will be aware, there are two streams to hospital activity, emergency and elective activity. Pressures on the hospital system due to identified capacity constraints hinder its ability to provide elective activity in a planned way because of the urgent and unpredictable needs of emergency patients. Patients who require elective treatment may have to wait because beds, staff and operating theatres are being used to treat emergency cases. The balance to be achieved is to ensure that the available resources are used efficiently and that treatment can be delivered to patients in a reasonable time.
Due to the nature of any health care system not all treatments can be made available to patients immediately. Hospital facilities must be used to best effect and it is sometimes necessary to place patients for non-urgent treatments on a waiting list. Therefore, the significant issue from the patients perspective is the length of time spent waiting for treatment and as such my Department's objective is to reduce waiting times significantly in the short term with particular focus on those waiting longest for treatment.
This Government has maintained a particular focus on those waiting longest for hospital treatment. The establishment of the national treatment purchase fund has resulted in more active management of long waiting lists at a local level. To date, the fund has arranged treatment for approximately 12,000 patients and has sourced further capacity for procedures in orthopaedics, ophthalmology, ENT, gynaecology, plastic surgery and urology. It is now the case that, in most instances, adults waiting more than six months for an operation and children waiting more than three months will be facilitated by the fund. If patients are prepared to exercise choice by travelling to where there is capacity, they can be treated a lot quicker in many instances. As the NTPF has the available capacity, and the fact that patients or their GPs can contact the NTPF directly to arrange treatment, the majority of patients do not need to wait more than six months for treatment.
While the rate of progress in achieving the targets set out in the health strategy has been slower than anticipated, significant progress has been achieved to date. The overall target of no patient waiting more than three months for treatment still remains a goal to be achieved.
