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Updated 39 minutes ago
THE HSE HAS launched its Winter Plan, which boasts an “unprecedented” € 600 million boost to help address the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ireland currently has 409 acute beds, according to the HSE; As part of the Winter Plan, it aims to increase this to 892 beds. It will increase the subacute beds from 395 to 484.
Speaking at the plan launch today, HSE CEO Paul Reid said ICU capacity started at 225 beds before Covid and increased to 282 during the pandemic. Reid said the plan is to increase capacity by 30% compared to the February baseline.
The plan aims to increase community capacity and decrease acute hospital demand, which follows the theme of the Sláintecare plan, to mitigate the impact of Covid-19.
Key initiatives within the Winter Plan include:
- An extra 251 sharp beds and 89 subacute beds in the fourth quarter of 2020, with 232 acute beds to be delivered in the first quarter of 2021.
- A total of 530 repurposed / new rehab beds, including 631 rehab outreach locations, will be in operation through April 2021. 868 new Equivalent full-time health workers are needed to staff this initiative.
- Plus home care packages; more private bed capacity purchased by HSE; and more intermediate care beds.
- Support for GPs. These supports will “ensure” that one-handed and two-doctor practices, of which 15% and 24% of GPs, respectively, experience no failures in practice and / or GP burnout
- There are currently 7 community assessment centers in operation within 5 community health care organizations and another 3 are on standby to open in case demand increases. The plan is to have 20 axes available from January to April 2021.
The implementation of this plan will cost more than 200 million euros this year and more than 403 million euros next, for a total of 604,172,714 euros.
Most of the financing of 600 million euros will go to: home care (138 million euros), acute care beds (81 million euros), community beds (87 million euros), private hospitals (58 million euros ) and vaccination (55 million euros). ).
Paul Reid said today that this winter will be “more difficult than any we have faced before.”
We live with Covid-19, we live differently, however, we have planned differently and we have to trust our Winter Plan.
“I ask the public to follow public health advice, the worst we can do is become complacent. I also ask members of the priority groups to make sure they get the flu shot and give themselves the best chance to stay well this winter. “
Speaking today, Anne O’Connor, HSE’s chief operating officer, said that HSE would focus on resuming health services, while preparing for the expected pressures associated with winter, as well as the challenges posed by Covid-19. .
“Guidance, new processes and infrastructure will be critical to support the resumption of service delivery,” he said.
He added that the goal is to hire 2,760 employees in 2020 as part of the basic winter plan and another 2,200 in testing and tracking.
Speaking to journalists this afternoon, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said: “It is essential that we do whatever it takes to ensure that we can enable our healthcare service to deal with Covid-19 and also the challenges of non-Covid diseases that will arise. and we need her to do everything we can to keep waiting lists low, despite Covid’s impact on hospitals. “
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has also welcomed the publican of the plan.
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“We are in unprecedented times and the large amount of funds allocated by the government this year reflects that,” he said.
Donnelly appreciated the additional supports in the plan for those most at risk, including the elderly, the homeless, and those with chronic illnesses.
“The implementation of teams of community specialists to support the elderly and people with chronic diseases is very positive. These teams will heal them to stay at home or, if they need hospital care, to go home faster later, ”he said.
“The plan also provides GPs with better access to diagnoses, which will have a positive impact by reducing patient wait times and the demand on our emergency departments.”
You can read the HSE winter plan here.
With reporting by Michelle Hennessy and Hayley Halpin
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