Hospital capacity and winter pressures
Deputy Michael Harty says overcrowding and capacity problems in health services are year-round and should not be blamed on holiday leave. The Tánaiste acknowledges the challenge and cites additional beds, increased spending, and wider Sláintecare reforms.
I refer to the Taoiseach's comments on Tuesday and, also, to the programme for Government commitment to building capacity in our emergency and acute services. Rostering is not the problem in regard to Christmas and the New Year in our health service. The Taoiseach, in suggesting that those who have remained to work in our health service are reducing their commitment over Christmas and the New Year by taking their annual leave entitlements, missed the target. His target should have been the Department of Health and the HSE because accident and emergency overcrowding occurs all year round. For example, yesterday - two months before Christmas - there were 591 people on trolleys. Last year, there were 714 people on trolleys two months after Christmas. The problems in regard to our health services are in plain sight. The solutions are also in plain sight. When will funding be provided for the transformation of our health service, which must be over and above the normal allocation. Extra funding must be provided for transformation.
Comment on this
I accept this is challenge and problem for 12 months of the year. Capacity is a major issue across so many hospitals. For this reason, we have provided an additional 240 beds so far this year, with more to come before the end of the year. We have spent tens of millions of euro doing this. The health budget for next year is about maintaining and supporting services, but also about transformation. There has been an enormous increase in the budget allocation for next year for healthcare. The Government is committed to an ongoing reform programme consistent with Sláintecare that can deal with capacity over time.
The Taoiseach's comments earlier this week in regard to preparing for the challenges that we know are coming through the Christmas period and through January focused on one particular element. We need to have an honest conversation about rostering and ensuring there is health leadership and full teams available in hospitals when the pressure is most intense. This is not an unreasonable issue to raise. The Taoiseach and I and everybody else accept that there are many other issues that need to be resolved over time to enable us deal with capacity in a comprehensive way.