More than 800 hospital beds unavailable in first nine days of 2023

Figures obtained from the HSE by the Irish Examiner show that of those 152 closed on New Year’s Day, 124 were due to Infection Prevention Control.

Hospitals were forced to keep 152 acute beds closed on New Year’s Day, the highest of any day so far this year.

In total, 858 bed days have been lost to the system at a time of record trolley numbers with staff shortages also being an issue.

Figures obtained from the HSE by the Irish Examiner show that of those 152, 124 were due to Infection Prevention Control (IPC), 15 due to Covid-19, two to staffing issues and 11 due to refurbishment.

The next highest day was last Thursday, January 5, which had 107 beds closed and of those, 73 were due to IPC, 12 not available due to Covid, 21 due to staffing issues and one due to refurbishment. 

Monday had the fewest bed closures at 71 down from 92 the day before. Infection control issues accounted for the majority of bed closures. Explaining the bed closures, the HSE said working to prevent infection of any kind in a hospital or community setting can lead to beds being unavailable for a time.

This is due to patients needing to be cohorted or isolated, due to an area of the hospital or facility being closed to new admissions to prevent the spread of infection or being cleaned. Infection prevention and control measures can relate to a wide range of infectious diseases, like Covid, influenza or norovirus - the winter vomiting bug.

The HSE said: “Our hospitals continue to operate a system of early identification of patients with respiratory viral infection who require isolation and testing for Covid-19 or other viruses to help find people with infection as quickly as possible so that measures can be taken to reduce the risk of spread of infection to others.” 

It said each hospital carries out local risk assessment in relation to current IPC issues relevant to their hospital at that time, following HSE Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control (AMRIC) guidance. The HSE hospital clinical guidance includes guidance in relation to testing, use of PPE, IPC-based precautions and patient placement.

The guidance also supports the use of local risk assessment by hospitals to make clinical decisions on these issues based on local epidemiology, case numbers and outbreaks, the statement said.

HSE chief clinical officer, Dr Colm Henry, said the health service is now operating a “whole system response” and as a result, the number of patients waiting to be admitted on Tuesday is thought to be unlikely to climb as high as last Tuesday’s record figure of 923. 

Today, 534 people are waiting on trolleys in hospitals around the country. Yet, hospitals all over the country remain under significant pressure due to waves of flu, Covid-19 and other respiratory infections.

Day-by-day breakdown of bed closures:

January 1: 152 beds were unavailable or closed. Of these, 124 were due to Infection Prevention Control (IPC), 15 due to Covid, two to staffing issues and 11 due to refurbishment.

January 2: 92 beds were unavailable or closed. Of these 64 were due to IPC, nine due to Covid, eight due to staffing issues and 11 due to refurbishment.

January 3: 75 beds were unavailable or closed. Of these 50 were due to IPC, one due to Covid, six due to staffing issues and 18 due to refurbishment.

January 4: 88 beds were unavailable or closed. Of these 58 were due to IPC, eight due to Covid, four due to staffing issues and 18 due to refurbishment.

January 5: 107 beds were unavailable or closed. Of these 73 were due to IPC, 12 due to Covid, 21 due to staffing issues and one due to refurbishment.

January 6: 91 beds were unavailable or closed. Of these 61 were due to IPC, 11 due to Covid, 18 due to staffing issues and one due to refurbishment.

January 7: 90 beds were unavailable or closed. Of these 42 were due to IPC, 30 due to Covid, 17 due to staffing issues and one due to refurbishment.

January 8: 92 beds were unavailable or closed. Of these 37 were due to IPC, 24 due to Covid, 22 to staffing issues, one due to refurbishment and 8 to weekend closure.

January 9: 71 beds were unavailable or closed. Of these 45 were due to IPC, three due to Covid, 22 due to staffing issues and one due to refurbishment.