175 beds a day occupied by patients ‘fit for discharge’ at Mater

ALMOST 2,500 bed days per month were denied to patients awaiting treatment at Dublin’s Mater Hospital last year because of difficulties discharging patients.

Figures from January to October 2002 show an average of 175 patients fit for medical discharge occupied beds on a daily basis at the Mater Misericordiae, costing a total of 24,285 bed days over a 10-month period.

A spokeswoman for the hospital blamed the bed-blocking on the lack of step-down facilities.