Additional 4,367 inpatient beds set to transform hospitals across six areas nationwide
These new beds, due by 2031, are in addition to the 1,015 beds already under construction or previously committed to
The Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly and the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform Paschal Donohoe, announced the Acute Inpatient Hospital Bed Expansion Plan, which aims to deliver 4,367 acute hospital in-patient beds by 2031.
Announced this Wednesday, this plan will deliver on the Minister’s commitment to ensure balanced regional bed capacity and to ensure patients across Ireland have equity of access.
This includes 3,352 new beds, with the location of these new beds mapped across the six regional health areas. The 3,352 new beds announced includes 2,997 net additional beds, as well as 355 replacement beds. These new beds are in addition to the 1,015 beds already under construction or previously committed to.
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.”
This new Plan was informed by HSE modelling and a site-by-site assessment, as well as ongoing work by the ESRI. Excluding beds that have already opened, this represents a total planned capacity increase of 3,438 net additional acute in-patient beds and 929 replacement acute inpatient beds over the period 2024 to 2031.