The Health Service Executive has confirmed that 536 people have been moved from acute hospital beds under the Government's ten-point plan to alleviate the accident and emergency crisis.
A further 105 people are to move from acute hospitals to alternative facilities in the near future, while another 100 are scheduled to receive home care packages shortly.
The €70 million ten-point plan was announced by Minister for Health Mary Harney last November. It promised "ten wide-ranging actions to improve A&E services, including fully staffed acute medical units in major hospitals". There are 12,000 beds in acute hospitals around the country.
A HSE spokesman said today 420 inpatients who have completed their treatments, or so-called bed blockers, remain in acute hospitals in the Eastern Region.
A total of 161 patients have moved out of Eastern Region hospitals to avail of Home Care Packages, with another 45 in the process of moving. A further 100 packages are being arranged around the country.
Intermediate care has been arranged for 186 patients in the Eastern Region, while another 60 outside the region have been discharged.
Thirty-nine patients have been moved from high-dependency beds.
Ninety people in the Eastern Region have been moved to nursing homes, with another 60 to follow shortly.
The HSE spokesman said there have been no beds closed this year because of budgetary reasons. However, 93 were closed due to other factors like refurbishment and infection control measures. He said it was hoped these would be reopened in the near future.
The spokesman said A&E admissions have dropped to around 150 to 170 per day.
However, the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) said its figures show there were 154 patients awaiting beds in A&E wards in Dublin, and 69 in hospitals around the country today. The INO says there are on average over 200 patients on trolleys awaiting beds each day.
