Hospital overcrowding hits new high

Hospital overcrowding reached a record high for August with more than 6,600 patients left waiting on trolleys in emergency departments, it emerged today.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) said budget cuts affected front line care with almost 2,000 beds shut in public hospitals.

Its figures showed a 35% increase in the numbers who found themselves on a trolley from August 2010 – to 6,624 – a staggering 106% rise since 2007.

The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) recently ordered Tallaght Hospital to stop holding patients on trolleys as they await admission to wards.

Liam Doran, INMO general secretary, said the figures tell Health Minister James Reilly and the Health Service Executive (HSE) the current cost containment programmes are having a serious negative impact on patient care.

“Emergency department overcrowding, and people waiting for a bed on a trolley, is the greatest challenge facing the entire health system every day,” he said.

“It cannot, and will not, be solved by hiding the problem, with extra beds on wards, thus compromising the care of all patients.”

The INMO recorded 401 people on trolleys on August 31 – a figure down to 323 today.

Mr Doran said the 1,947 bed closures in hospitals nationwide, a cut in the number of long-term care beds and cutbacks in community based services were having a devastating impact on the quality of care available to all patients.

The union raised fears over an expected increase in demand during the winter months.

It also called for HIQA or the Medical Council to inspect all hospitals to ensure staff are able to provide safe care, in a dignified environment, to all patients at all times.

Mr Doran continued: “Regardless of IMF/EU austerity programmes this government must now review its current policy of constantly cutting back on frontline health services, as a way of saving money, and realise that this is harmful to patient care and simply unsustainable.

“It must therefore prioritise the opening of closed beds, in sufficient numbers to meet present and future demand, and it must do so without further delay, prevarication or hesitation. There is no other option or solution to deal with this crisis which exists every day in our public health service.”

The Department of Health said the problems related to overcrowding in hospitals are complex and will take time to resolve.

In a statement, a spokeswoman said Minister Reilly has established the special delivery unit with senior adviser Dr Martin Connor to implement new strategies to deal with waiting lists and in particular to start by focusing on the number of patients waiting on trolleys.

“Since his appointment in June Dr Connor has been evaluating the issues involved, has commissioned essential research and has formulated a set of responses aimed at improving the capacity of hospitals to better manage its throughput of patients,” she said.

“Coincidentally today has been a significant day for the special delivery unit with key meetings involving the HSE and the national treatment purchase fund.”

Elsewhere the HSE said the health services were facing an extremely challenging financial situation for the remainder of the year – while the number of people being treated rose.

“Each hospital must comply with its statutory obligations and deliver the level of service detailed in the HSE service plan for 2011 while remain within its allocated budget,” it said in a statement.

“Where a hospital is providing service at levels beyond what was agreed in the service plan it must now bring services back to the levels for which they are funded to ensure that the commitments in the service plan for 2011 are delivered within budget.”