Winter trolley gridlock fears over delay in rollout of new hospital beds
FEARS that hospitals are facing another winter of trolley gridlock rose yesterday after it emerged it will take years to roll out hundreds of additional beds.
Health Minister Simon Harris said around an additional 600 beds will need to be phased in over three years.
Extra beds are essential to ease overcrowding which led to trolley misery for months last winter. But many will not be in place until the end of next year, he told the Oireachtas health committee.
Patients endured a record level of overcrowding in hospitals last winter and doctors recently called for 1,200 beds to prevent a repeat of the chaos in the coming months.
One of the worst-hit hospitals, University Hospital Limerick, is to get additional beds in a modular unit but it could be 2021 before they are in place.
Blueprint
Mr Harris was giving an update on Sláintecare, the 10-year blueprint for the health service.
Although the cross-party committee which drew up the plan called for an earmarked fund to be set up to help deliver its pledge of creating a one-tier health service, this would not happen, he said.
Mr Harris said funding would have to be provided by the normal annual estimates process. A modest first instalment to cater for the early revenue aspects would be made in next week’s Budget.
An implementation strategy had been drawn up in recent months but not costed.
The original price of the plan
was estimated at €2.86bn over 10 years.
A more detailed action plan is due at the end of the year, according to Sláintecare director Laura Magahy.
The minister said one of the aims was to join up hospital groups and community care services in different regions.
Each would have its own budget and take many functions from the HSE, which was bloated and not fit for purpose.
Fianna Fáil TD Stephen Donnelly warned there were pressing issues, including record waiting lists which needed to be tackled in advance of Sláintecare.
Meanwhile, next week’s Budget is to deliver special funding to tackle the crisis in general practice.
Mr Harris said he had secured a multi-annual financial agreement for investment in general practice.
This would allow the phased restoration of recession cuts to fees paid to GPs for medical card holders and other HSE services.
The cuts amounted to €120m and have severely affected the income of many doctors.
It has led to several surgeries to turn away new patients because of workload.