David Cullinane
Ceist:118. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health his plans for increasing acute and critical care bed capacity in 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33611/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 3 November 2020
Ceisteanna (118)
Freagraí scríofa
This winter is expected to be particularly challenging due to the presence of Covid-19 and the uncertainty around the level of Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 healthcare demands. The Department of Health is working with the HSE to increase critical care and general acute bed capacity in hospitals throughout the country to meet demand.
Significant work has been underway in 2020 to increase capacity as far as is possible. The National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) agreed to support the marginal costs of funding additional general acute beds until the 31st December 2020 at an estimated cost of €24 million for the year. The HSE confirmed 197 of those beds have opened as planned. In addition, the HSE advised on 22 June 2020 that an additional 324 acute beds have opened since March, bringing the current total of acute beds in the system to 11,597 excluding critical care capacity.
A proportion of these beds will be funded as part of the HSE’s Winter Plan 2020/21. The Winter Plan aims to provide additional health service capacity across a range of services. Initiatives comprise additional acute and community beds to increase acute capacity, help reduce admissions and facilitate egress. As such, 251 additional acute beds and 89 sub-acute beds are due to open in quarter 4 of 2020.
Government allocated €236 million revenue and €40 million capital expenditure as part of Budget 2021 to fund additional acute beds on a permanent basis. This funding will provide, by the end of 2021, an additional 1,146 acute beds.
In relation to critical care, at the start of the year, permanent adult critical care capacity in Ireland stood at 255 beds, according to the National Office of Clinical Audit. This included 204 Level 3 ICU beds and 51 Level 2 HDU beds. As part of the initial response to the pandemic, funding was provided for an additional 40 adult critical care beds in March 2020 as well as two paediatric beds. The HSE has advised that between 280 and 285 critical care beds are currently open, with the number open any given day subject to fluctuation in respect of available staff and other operational considerations.
Budget 2021 will allocate funding totalling €52m in 2021 to critical care. This will retain, on a permanent basis, the 42 critical care beds put in place on a temporary basis this year and add significant new capacity. Funded adult critical care beds will increase to 321 by end 2021, an increase of 66 over the baseline number of 255 funded beds in 2020.