Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 May 2016
154. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Health how he intends to reduce waiting times in emergency departments in hospitals from 32% to less than 7% by 2021 in line with the programme for Government. [10782/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraED attendances have been significantly higher this year. The HSE has reported an average increase of 6.4% compared with the same period last year.
My predecessor convened the ED Taskforce in December 2014 to provide focus and momentum in dealing with the challenges presented by ED overcrowding. In April 2015, the HSE published the Taskforce action plan and significant progress has been made to date on implementing the plan. The ED Taskforce Implementation Group continues to meet on a regular basis to oversee progress in this regard and I look forward to meeting with this group shortly.
I am very conscious of the impact that long wait times in Emergency Departments can have on patients and their families. Pressures on EDs have been rising, as the population is both growing and ageing, while investment was constrained during the recession. However, the 2015 and 2016 Budgets have seen increases in the Health Budget, investments in capital expansion and the implementation of measures designed to tackle overcrowding in EDs.
In June 2015, €18m of additional funding was made available to the HSE under the Winter Additional Capacity Initiative to facilitate the opening of new hospital beds and the reopening of previously closed beds. A total of 364 new or re-opened beds have been made available to date, which has enabled ED attendance figures similar to last year's, despite a sustained increase in attendances.
New EDs are already open at the Mater Hospital in Dublin and in Wexford General Hospital. The Programme for Government has committed to progress new ED facilities for University Hospital Galway and Beaumont Hospital, Dublin.
A review of bed capacity in our health service, coupled with the review of the hours of service of Medical Assessment Units are key commitments in the Programme for a Partnership Government intended to alleviate ED overcrowding.
Increases in the health budget, measures to increase bed capacity for ED patients, along with new ED facilities and maximising the potential of units and services to treat patients outside of the hospital setting, will all contribute to reducing the time patients have to spend waiting in our EDs.
