100 extra hospital beds have been announced for Kilkenny and Carlow.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has pledged 706 in total across HSE Dublin and South East under the new Acute Hospital Inpatient Bed Capacity Expansion Plan (2024-2031).
Introduced in response to the ongoing Health Service Capacity Review, the aim is to bring the number of beds in the region from 2.2 per 100,000 people to 2.6, improving access to in-patient care while also delivering on the Minister’s commitment to ensure balanced regional bed capacity and to ensure patients across Ireland have equity of access.
82 are at St Luke’s General Hospital for Carlow and Kilkenny with 18 more for Kilcreene Orthopaedic Hospital.
Added to that there are 98 for University Hospital Waterford, 97 for Wexford General Hospital, 48 for South Tipperary University Hospital.
The plan does not include rehab, subacute or specialist beds.
Minister Donnelly said; “The next seven years will see significant expansion in hospital capacity across the Dublin and South East region. It is vital that our health service responses to the healthcare needs of the population, and we must deliver improvements that respond to changing demographics.
“I’m confident that this plan will help to deliver a better service for people across the South East.
“We’re building on the significant developments in the region in the last few years and with additional capacity in acute inpatient beds we are moving closer to our goal of ensuring that people receive the right care in the right place at the right time.”
