14,500 people left A&E without treatment in January and February

HSE CEO Bernard Gloster said: 'We know that hospitals will experience pressure coming into Tuesday morning'. Picture: Leah Farrell /RollingNews.ie

Nearly 14,500 people left Irish emergency departments (EDs)without being treated in the first two months of 2023.

While the figure represents a drop on 2022, it is an increase of over 2,000 on the pre-pandemic months of January and February 2020.

While the HSE says that some patients may leave before triage, after triage, or prior to a decision to admit or discharge home, the figures have been called "frightening".

Figures released to Sinn Féin's Health spokesperson David Cullinane show that 14,429 people left hospitals before they were treated, with February's figure of 7,776 being higher than January's 6,653, despite the first month of the year coming during the worst overcrowding crisis ever seen in Irish hospitals.

The Ireland East Hospital Group accounts for 3,850 of the figure, taking in Dublin's Mater and St Vincent's hospitals as well as facilities in Navan, Mullingar, Wexford and Kilkenny. Hospitals in Cork, Kerry, and Tipperary account for just over 1,600 people leaving, while University Hospital Limerick accounts for 881 alone.

Figures released to Mr Cullinane also show that the scale of hospital appointment cancellations remains above 40,000 for the first two months of the year. Overall, there have been 41,160 cancellations, the majority being return outpatient appointments. 

However, figures also show that the average wait time in emergency departments dropped in February from 11.8 hours last year to 11.4 this February.

Mr Cullinane said that overcrowding is now no longer just a winter phenomenon in Irish hospitals.

Hospital overcrowding is becoming an all-year-round feature of our health services. It is resulting in high wait times in EDs, large volumes of patients leaving without being seen and a cancellation of thousands of procedures each month. In truth the minister does not have a plan. He is simply moving the crisis from one part of the health service to another.

“We need a multi-annual plan from the minister setting out year-on-year targets on increasing bed capacity and a greater investment in primary and community care to ensure patients are getting the right care, at the right time in the right place.”

Mr Cullinane said that his party would publish a "comprehensive" health plan on the long-term needs of the system and called on Minister Stephen Donnelly to do the same.

A HSE spokesperson said that hospitals must "clinically prioritise those who must be treated first, and those who may need to wait, or those who may need to attend a more appropriate care setting". This, they said can lead to waiting periods.

"To ensure this process is clinically safe for patients, Irish hospitals use the internationally tested Manchester Triage Tool which prioritises patients into a number of categories based on their clinical needs. Where a patient is seriously ill or injured, their needs will be prioritised above those with less serious conditions. 

Ideally, hospitals would be in a position to treat patients on their arrival. However, as demand inevitably overtakes capacity, prioritisation and consequential waiting may occur. In this regard, some patients with less serious needs may choose to avail of alternative options.

"The purpose of EDs is to deal with serious and unexpected illness and injury. Many people, whose clinical needs could be more appropriately addressed by self-care, pharmacists, GPs, GP Out of Hours Services, and Injury Units, continue to attend Emergency Departments. In Ireland, approximately 27% of those attending are actually admitted to hospital while many others are referred or attend for a specialty review, diagnostics, or because of minor illness or injury."

The figures come as the HSE has warned of increasing pressures facing hospitals from today following a busy Bank Holiday weekend for emergency care.

HSE CEO Bernard Gloster said, “We know that hospitals will experience pressure coming into Tuesday morning.

“Substantial work over the weekend has been of some benefit but the position remains challenging. In as much as possible we want to reduce discomfort for the public and staff and part of that response lies in the use of all options.”

The HSE said hospital teams are working to reduce the time people wait on trolleys or wait to be seen in busy emergency departments.