MINISTER FOR Health Dr James Reilly was accused of doing a U-turn on hospital bed closures during exchanges with Sinn Féin’s Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin.

Dr Reilly said that instead of having a debate about the exact number of beds judged to be open or closed at any one time, the concentration should be on getting the best possible services for patients from the available budgets.

“This means we need to focus on how beds are used, on the throughput of patients, on reducing length of stay to international norms and on having as many procedures as possible carried out as day cases rather than inpatient work,” he added.

The work of the special delivery unit, together with the implementation of the clinical care programmes in the HSE, would help to improve the efficiency of hospitals, allowing for the treatment of as many patients as possible within budget.

“I believe that pursuing efficiencies through these means will be a far more productive approach than debating the number of beds open or closed at any one time,” Dr Reilly added.

Mr Ó Caoláin said the Minister was not in agreement with what he had said in opposition as Fine Gael spokesman on health.

He quoted from what Dr Reilly said in May of last year: “More beds closed means more patients suffering needlessly on trolleys and more patients waiting at home in pain due to cancelled operations.”

Mr Ó Caoláin said Dr Reilly had made the remarks when 33 beds were closed in a five-day ward in Beaumont Hospital, Dublin.

“The Minister has played a game of double standards,” said Mr Ó Caoláin.

“He championed various positions as opposition health spokesperson. But since taking office he has regurgitated what the previous minister said.”

Dr Reilly insisted that the nature of Mr Ó Caoláin’s question had changed somewhat.

“I would always be prepared to review the situation in an individual hospital,” he added. “In the past, a blunt instrument was used, with 10 per cent of capacity being taken out across all hospitals with no regard to where they were within their own capacity, so that some hospitals suffered more than others.”

Dr Reilly said that, six months after the Government’s formation, there was a real prospect of getting real-life information from emergency departments and on inpatient waiting and financial situations.

“We will know within two weeks what the financial situation of a hospital is, what its spend is and if it is going off budget and out of control,” he added.

Earlier, Dr Reilly said there were 13,000 acute hospital beds, including some 1,800 day beds, in the Irish public acute hospital system.

The exact number available for use at any one time varied according to a number of factors, including planned levels of activity, refurbishment and infection control.

Dr Reilly said the Government had started the year with a hospital overrun of €70 million.

“In the first three months of this year, under the previous government, we had a wild overrun of activity, whether by design or through negligence,” he added.