BEAUMONT Hospital reportedly lost over 12,000 bed days in the first five months of this year because of the continuing crisis caused by delayed discharges.
This has seen the Northside hospital lose a shocking 665 bed days a week, according to figures released by Dublin North Senator, Darragh O’Brien (FF).
Senator O’Brien pointed the finger of blame squarely at Government cutbacks.
“The public hospital system is creaking,
? he said.
“The Government’s strategy of cutting home care packages and the closure of 1,000 public nursing home beds nationwide this year are having a direct impact on patient care.
“Frontline services in Beaumont, which serves a huge area across the Northside, are not being protected by this Government and there is genuine public concern that this situation is only going to get worse.
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He added:
“Community nursing home beds and home care packages are essential to ensuring that people who don’t need to be in Beaumont Hospital anymore can move to community or home settings when their hospital care is complete.
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Northside People exclusively revealed earlier this year that one of the 97 patients tying up acute beds in Beaumont had been waiting 586 days to be discharged.
Figures seen by this newspaper and released by the Health Service Executive (HSE) in March 2012 indicated that there were 84 patients awaiting long-stay care.
A spokesperson for Beaumont Hospital said there were around 30 additional patients per month within the hospital who are deemed to need long-term residential care.
“The demand if anything is increasing against the backdrop of a very large catchment area on one hand and an insufficient stock of suitable nursing home beds and dedicated long-term care facilities in the Dublin North region on the other,
? the spokesperson told Northside People.
“In response we are very proactive, working with the wider healthcare providers, and with the active support of the Department of Health through the SDU (Special Delivery Unit) to facilitate families in finding nursing home and long-term care bed discharges in as timely a manner as possible.
“In addition there is a requirement for a similar number of home care packages per month to facilitate patients discharging home and we work closely with our community partners in relation to sourcing same.
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Meanwhile, the hospital’s funding needs have also come under political scrutiny.
Deputy Billy Kellegher, Fianna Fail’s spokesperson on health, recently called on the Minister for Health James Reilly to give assurances that Beaumont Hospital was fully funded until at least the end of 2012.
“I am aware that staff at Beaumont Hospital are worried that there may not be adequate funding available from October of this year,
? he stated.
“If money is running out does this mean there will be more bed closures and staff shortages and lay-offs?
“If so, this will have detrimental effect on services to patients.
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In response to the concerns raised, a spokesperson told Northside People:
“Beaumont Hospital is no different to any other organisation that must work hard to maintain services at a time of extreme economic pressure.
“The hospital board and management team is doing so in close cooperation with the Department of Health, the HSE and other Government departments and agencies.
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