The Director General of the HSE Tony O’Brien has claimed the health service will provide an extra 440 beds in hospitals during the winter months to ease the overcrowding crisis.
The announcement was made Mr O’Brien yesterday evening when he told the Joint Committee on Health and Children that extra funding has been provided to open a further 300 beds more than last year. Mr O’Brien also said the HSE will re-open beds that are closed for essential upgrades and for infection control purposes, bringing the total number of beds available to 440.
The Director General also claimed that hospital group CEOs were working extremely hard to provide the extra beds during the winter months.