§ Mrs. Iris RobinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on bed shortages in Northern Ireland hospitals. [147195]
§ Angela SmithMany of Northern Ireland's hospitals have come under considerable pressure in recent days, with large numbers of patients having to wait on trolleys for admission. In preparation for the pressure of winter, a significant range of additional services were put in place, including extra medical beds and enhanced facilities in primary care and community care services, which help to minimise the number of potential hospital admissions. An additional £7 million was allocated to support this extra service provision. Work is also well under way to increase overall hospital capacity and, over the past year, the number of available hospital beds has increased by over 70. A further 30 beds will be coming on stream later this year. To complement this expansion, an additional £6 million is being spent in the current year on providing extra community care services.