HSE to audit level of bed closures

THE HSE has stopped publishing its monthly bed closure rates and begun a nationwide audit on the issue after union claims that the number of closed units could be almost 40% higher than believed.

Latest figures provided by the HSE and the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) show a clear gap between the official rate and the union count.

While the HSE’s figures for October state that 1,045 beds are closed nationwide, the nurses and midwives’ union have insisted the figure was and remains at approximately 1,700.

The HSE has put the significant difference down to the fact some hospitals class beds unavailable since 2006 as bed closures. It said other facilities are also describing units being used by delayed discharge patients — meaning they cannot be accessed by other patients, causing waiting list delays — in the ‘bed closure’ category.

However, despite the explanation, the HSE has decided to stop publishing its own official national bed closures count and has begun a countrywide audit of the issue in order to clarify the true scale of the problem.

The details of the audit are understood to include a stipulation outlining the “cut-off point” for when a bed which has been unavailable for a number of years can still be classed as a closed unit.

The INMO, which has criticised the HSE’s monthly figures for failing to give a true picture of the situation, is continuing to update its bed closure count on its website, www.inmo.ie.

According to the union, 1,701 public beds — including those for paediatrics, intensive care, general, Alzheimer’s and surgical units — are currently unavailable to patients. The facilities with the worst general bed closure rates are Louth County Hospital (97), the Midlands Regional Hospital in Tullamore (86), Sligo General (66) and Cork University Hospital (62).

The situation emerged as more than 1,700 people took part in a major west Cork protest on Saturday over the potential closure of 16 beds at Mount Carmel Community Hospital in Clonakilty.

The march was organised by the local hospital action committee, which has called for a meeting with senior HSE officials over the planned bed closures.