Mater beds held by patients whose treatment was over

A TOTAL of 63 patients whose hospital treatment was finished were occupying beds in the Mater hospital in Dublin for more than 100 days on July 13th.

The information was given in to a Dáil question from Labour Party Dublin Central TD Joe Costello, who asked Minister for Health Mary Harney how many people were in that category and why they had not been returned to the community.

In response to the written question, the parliamentary affairs division of the HSE said it had been advised by the social work department in the Mater Hospital that 54 of the 63 patients concerned were over 65.

It said that 43 of the over-65 patients had been listed and were awaiting funding from the HSE for long term care placements (HCP) in private nursing homes.

Ten more were awaiting long term care placements in St Marys Hospital, Phoenix Park, due to high-dependency needs while one patient was awaiting a placement in Cuan Ros (a public nursing home).

Of the under-65s, seven were awaiting funding from the HSE for long-term care placements in private nursing homes, one was awaiting a placement to become available in Gallon House in St Vincent’s, Fairview, while one was awaiting a placement in Cuan Aoibheann located in St Mary’s Hospital, Phoenix Park.

The HSE reply added: “A person’s length of stay in an acute hospital following the treatment of the acute phase of illness is affected by a number of factors, which may include the following: the requirement for intensive physiotherapy/occupational therapy;

the availability of step-down facilities (secondary rehabilitation/ convalescence); the suitability of the person’s home to meet the changed need of the patient (housing adaptations/equipment required);

the availability of family or other carers to support patient to live in their own homes, and the availability of appropriate long-stay residential care, if required, to meet the needs of the person (placement dependant on family agreement etc).

It said that the HSE in north Dublin city and county continued to provide supports to facilitate people returning home on discharge from hospital through the provision of home help and home care packages.

“At the end of June 2009, over 6,700 persons were in receipt of a home help service, with 867,000 home help hours provided from January 1st to June 30th. A total of 1,571 home care packages were in place at June 30th, of which 115 had been provided from Jan 1st to June 30th to facilitate discharge from hospital. HCP are also utilised to prevent admission to acute hospitals.”

The reply stated that for people who could not return home, 599 long-stay public beds had been provided in the north Dublin area, 100 of which were opened (at St Mary’s Hospital, Phoenix Park) in 2008. An additional 200 beds were currently being built, 100 at St Joseph’s Hospital, Raheny, and 100 at St Vincent’s Hospital, Fairview.

In addition, about 700 contract beds in private nursing homes were publicly funded and subvention was being provided to a further 600 patients in private nursing homes.