Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 May 2019
70. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Health the action he has taken to address the overcrowding situation in University Hospital Limerick further to correspondence he received from seven County Limerick and mid-west Deputies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20845/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am committed to tackling the key challenges our health service faces in relation to long waiting times and hospital overcrowding. Improving timely access to care for patients is at the heart of Sláintecare. Building upon the progress made in recent years in this area, the Sláintecare Action Plan 2019 published by my Department, includes a specific work stream on Access and Waiting Lists.
Progress has already been made in implementing the Sláintecare Action Plan Waiting List and Access actions this year.
With regard to unscheduled care, the Winter Plan 2018/19 was designed to ensure that the Health system was well prepared, within existing financial and capacity requirements, to meet the increased demand for services over the Winter period.
University Hospital Limerick is one of the busiest in the country and the hospital and CHO Mid West were identified as one of the 9 focus sites requiring additional investment, focus and support this Winter. This support included additional home support packages and transitional care beds, additional bed capacity and access to diagnostics. At local level the Hospital Group have also taken a range of additional actions and I have referred this question to the HSE for direct reply to you on these actions.
The Health Service Capacity Review published last year, highlighted the need for a major investment in additional capacity. Progress has also been made on increasing capacity in UHL and the average number of open inpatient beds has increased by 4% between 2017 and March 2019 to 438. Significant further investment is planned with a capital budget of €19.5 million approved for the provision of a modular 60-bed inpatient ward block at UHL, with €10 million of this funding allocated in 2019. Enabling works commenced in March 2019, and the HSE advise that the main works are expected to start at the end of May 2019.
In addition, the National Development Plan includes a 96-bed replacement ward block in UHL and capital funding was provided in 2018 to progress the design phase of this project.
With regard to the correspondence referenced by the Deputy, the HSE is currently undertaking a review of performance across all Hospital Groups and CHO's over the winter period. The HSE advise that this process will include an independent expert review of clinical, analytical and management capability in University Hospital Limerick and CHO Mid West and the other focus sites and CHO's. In addition, this correspondence, and related correspondence from the INMO, raises INMO concerns regarding patient safety and other matters at University Hospital Limerick and my Department has requested the HSE to consider the issues raised and revert as a matter of priority.
