To ask the Minister of Health to outline any measures his Department is putting in place to ensure that beds are available for patients who need to be admitted to hospital from Emergency Departments (ED) instead of having to wait in the ED.

As part of the GIRFT Review, a Summary Emergency Department Indicator Table (SEDIT) was developed for Northern Ireland, presenting data across four key areas: demand, capacity, flow, and outcomes. In assessing capacity, consideration is given to factors such as the number of resus and majors treatment cubicles in Emergency Departments (Eds), the availability of ED consultant and nursing staff, as well as acute and elderly beds available in each hospital. The SEDIT shows that for the majority of sites in Northern Ireland, when compared to peers in England and Wales, our hospitals have sufficient capacity to manage the demand levels. Where our hospitals do not compare favourably with peers is around flow and outcomes. This indicates that hospital capacity is not the limiting factor, but rather flow through our hospitals, highlighting the need to improve discharge processes and overall patient flow.

In order to help Trusts manage pressures over the winter period, £10m has been re-purposed and made available to Trusts for targeted actions across a range of areas from pre-hospital care through to acute care and into the community. These are to be in place by the end of October and form part of the Trusts unscheduled care plans.

The measures across Trusts include increased capacity of Hospital at Home in Belfast, South Eastern and Northern Trusts, which provides extra bed capacity in the community; eight additional short stay inpatient beds at Altnagelvin along with 12 additional intermediate care beds; frailty assessment at the front door of acute hospitals; expansion of ambulatory and Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC); multidisciplinary team assessment at the front door of acute hospitals; and enhanced capacity for early review teams and discharge co-ordination in Trusts.

This additional capacity supplements hospital inpatient beds and aims to avoid admission and provide alternative pathways for patients which are often more appropriate than additional inpatient beds.

At times of increased pressure, all hospitals have capacity to open additional inpatient escalation beds. In total across our hospitals, an additional 258 beds can be opened to help manage demand.

To address back door pressures and accelerate hospital discharges, a range of initiatives are being implemented. These include reviewing the Regional Care Home Contract to better support individuals with complex needs, expanding home care capacity using technology and AI, and developing a regional model for service delivery. The Early Review Team reassesses care packages within eight weeks to recycle hours back into the system, while the Care Line Live digital tool helps Trusts optimise scheduling and staffing. The Trusted Assessor model is improving transitions from hospital to care homes, with plans to expand to a seven-day service. A regional digital app is also being developed to provide daily updates on care home bed availability, and direct payments including emergency options are being promoted to give individuals greater control over their care.

Collectively, these measures are designed to ensure timely access to inpatient beds for patients requiring admission from emergency departments.