Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent)
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12. To ask the Minister for Health to provide an update on the newly announced additional beds he plans to deliver for Ennis Hospital and the mid-west region; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25770/24]

Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent)
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I ask the Minister to provide an update on the newly announced additional beds he plans to deliver for Ennis Hospital and the mid-west region.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I would be delighted to do so, and I thank the Deputy for asking the question and giving me the opportunity. The new beds plan, as the Deputy will be aware, is for 3,500 beds, which is on top of the 1,200 that have already been delivered. It is a game-changer. Between those that have been delivered and those that are coming, there are nearly 5,000 beds. Critically, to the core of Deputy Wynne’s question, not only is it a really important increase in the bed capacity, it is also regionally balanced for the first time in a very long time. It was something I insisted on as part of this plan. As we all know, of all the various regions, the mid-west had the lowest number of hospital beds per head of population. This plan will bring it up to having the second-highest number of beds. I am genuinely happy to be able to say that there will be a nearly 80% increase in the number of hospital beds in the mid-west under this plan. I do not know the last time anything like that happened but I imagine we would have to go back a very long time. I hope the people of the mid-west see very clearly that this is the strongest statement of intent you could have from a Government regarding the future of healthcare, proper services, community-based services, hospital services, ED departments that work for people and all the things we need in our service.

Specifically regarding Ennis Hospital, the increase is even bigger. We are nearly doubling the number of beds in Ennis Hospital. We are adding 48 new beds. There are 50 beds there now, so it is a 96% increase. We are basically doubling it. In terms of the experience for the patient, it is way beyond that. There are 50 beds there now, some of which are in the nightingale shared wards. The 48 beds being provided are state-of-the-art, single-room, en suite beds. We are therefore essentially doubling the bed capacity in Ennis Hospital on top of the investment we put in over the past few years.

Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent)
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This is a very welcome announcement for the region and it has been received very well locally. I agree it is a strong statement of intent and I want to acknowledge the commitment to increase capacity at Ennis Hospital. As we know, the population increase is in line with national statistics of 8%. That is a reality that needs to be planned for and delivered on. I know that a theatre upgrade was also approved and is due to be delivered in quarter 1 of 2026 and that planning permission is already in place. Will either project have an impact on the other? Will they be delivered side by side? Does one of them have to be prioritised over the other?

Procurement delays have been an issue in Limerick in particular and I do not want to see that happening in Ennis Hospital. It is often the case that until planning permission is granted the process is paused, which just seems like an unnecessary hold-up. October of last year saw all surgeries being cancelled in Ennis Hospital, St. John’s Hospital, Limerick, and Nenagh Hospital due to overcrowding in UHL. How can we guarantee that this unit will not suffer the same fate?

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. I can be very clear that the beds plan will have no negative impact on the projects that are currently planned. We are doing both. It is part of an ongoing investment in Ennis Hospital, which really is going from strength to strength. As the Deputy will be aware, a new outpatient department was opened in 2021. Importantly, a new injury unit was opened in 2022. It is doing incredible work. As the Deputy will know, as part of the UHL response, we are moving to 24-7 medical assessment units, MAUs. We have already extended and are further extending the injury unit opening hours and standardising those. As the Deputy has said, we have the new theatre block. I am not aware of any blockages to that. The information I have from the HSE is that it is at detail design stage. It is in the capital plan, which has been published. We are simply getting on with it and we are doubling the bed capacity as well.

Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent)
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I want to acknowledge the good work that has been done, particularly in respect of geriatric emergency medicine, the unit at UHL, the expansion of nine treatment bays and 24-hour operations.

I believe that is very significant, especially because our region has a far greater number of those over 75 than any other region. The data shows that in the first quarter of this year, 617 patients were seen and only 36 required admission to the UHL emergency department. I acknowledge that the Minister secured step-down community beds, but more planning needs to be done on carers for over-75s and on keeping them out of the emergency department unless absolutely necessary.

The Minister has spoken about the phased expansion, which I had intended to asked about. He outlined that care has been extended until 10 o'clock or midnight, after which it moves to the 24-7 provision at the MAU. The number of presentations at the MAU has increased by 32% since the expansion in our region, which is significant.

Finally, I wish to point to the housing issue. Given the number of additional staff we are going to need, is the Minister considering any policy regarding key-worker housing?

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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We are keeping a very open mind to anything local hospitals want to bring forward in terms of proposals, with one important caveat, namely, the capital budget is what it is. The Government has expanded it very significantly in recent years, but in respect of any proposal relating to bed capacity, we would have to ask whether it would have a knock-on effect on any opportunities to increase services, whatever they may be, such as diagnostics, a new outpatient centre or a new ED. We need to keep a very open mind to it. I am conscious that healthcare workers throughout the country really are struggling either to buy a home or to rent. There is a separate conversation, obviously, about the work being done to resolve that, but when it comes to healthcare, we will certainly keep an open mind to any proposals coming from hospitals throughout the country.