Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 November 2024
1055. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Health the number of beds opened at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) under the current Government; the number of beds opened across the mid-west under the current Government; and how many beds have been committed to be scheduled to open at UHL and in other hospitals in the mid-west under the plans announced by himself up to 2030, in tabular form. [44148/24]
View answerThis Government has acknowledged that additional bed capacity is required at University Hospital Limerick (UHL). To reduce the pressures on the Emergency Department at UHL, this Government is also investing extensively in increasing capacity in services across the Mid West region.
In May this year I announced the Acute Hospital Inpatient Bed Capacity Plan, which details transformative increases in bed capacity at UHL and across the Mid West region. Since this Plan was published, more new beds being built at UHL have been reprofiled to deliver additional capacity, rather than replacement capacity, which will increase further the beds available in the hospital.
The beds delivered from 2020-2024, those already committed at the time of publishing the Plan, the additional beds to be delivered through the Plan (which comprises two phases: 2025-2028 and 2029-2031), and the total beds anticipated to be delivered since 2020 are detailed in tabular form below:
|
|
Delivered 2020-2024 |
Committed |
Planned 2025-2028 |
Total planned 2029-2031 |
Total beds 2020-2031 |
|
University Hospital Limerick |
118* |
208 |
84 |
0 |
410 |
|
Ennis Hospital |
0 |
0 |
48 |
0 |
48 |
|
Nenagh Hospital |
3 |
0 |
24 |
0 |
27 |
|
St. John’s Hospital |
15 |
0 |
0 |
42 |
57 |
|
Croom Hospital |
24 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
24 |
|
Total Mid West |
160 |
208 |
156 |
42 |
566 |
*includes 10 Virtual Ward beds.
