700% rise in number of children on trolleys

The number of sick children being treated on trolleys is “at historically high and dangerous levels”, according to the Irish Association of Emergency Medicine.

Research at Crumlin has shown a 700% increase in the number of children without a bed.

Large numbers of children are spending their entire hospital stay on trolleys as they cannot get a bed, while the rate of children leaving emergency departments without being seen is also increasing — a criteria often used as an indicator of parental dissatisfaction with overcrowding.

Doctors at Temple St and Crumlin Children’s Hospitals, and at mixed hospitals across Ireland, are reporting sharp increases in paediatric overcrowding.

In 2007, just one or two children spent a night on a trolley at the hospital, now the figure has increased to 13 or 14 each night.

“Not infrequently, children are spending longer than 12 hours on a trolley and in some cases over 24 hours. The number of children who now receive their complete episode of care in the paediatric emergency department is now eight times greater than in 2008, according to this research,” said Prof Ronan O’Sullivan.

The association said the sharp rise in paediatric overcrowding can be attributed to the 10% cut in paediatric beds as overall paediatric admission rates have remained steady. “We must reopen paediatric beds for a short, but predictable, period each winter to accommodate the increased demand for short-term hospital care of children with infectious disease,” said Dr John McInerney.