500 patients stuck waiting to be discharged home from hospital

Its figures also show there were 385 people on trolleys waiting for a bed around the country today even though it is only mid-September.

There were 500 patients stuck in hospital at the start of this month waiting to go home after their treatment had finished, new HSE data shared at the Emergency Department Taskforce shows.

The taskforce which includes health unions, the Department of Health, and patient advocates, met today to discuss the growing crisis in hospitals.

While the number of patients experiencing “delayed discharge” is significantly lower than what was seen this time last year at just over 600 and this time in 2019 when it reached almost 800, it remains a crucial issue for the HSE.

This number can include patients waiting for homecare or supports to enable them to return home after a serious operation.

The impact of bed shortages can be seen in data showing only 31.7% of patients were admitted or discharged within six hours of arriving at a hospital ED. 

The taskforce also heard emergency departments had seen 207,268 children aged under 15 by September 3 which is 3,695 less than were seen by this time last year.

The data shared by the HSE shows this is also similar to the numbers seen in 2019, the last full year before the pandemic.

The Irish Patient Association’s Stephen McMahon attended the meeting and said the overall figures are “concerning” for patients of all ages.

He raised questions around a HSE target to have no patient aged over 75 spend longer than 24 hours on a trolley this winter.

“We know that in other countries patients waiting over four hours is considered a major problem,” he said, adding that even one patient spending 24 hours on a trolley is “unacceptable”.

We know from research that the longer you wait and spend waiting for admission to the wards, the more exposed you are to harm and poorer outcomes, and indeed death.

During the meeting, he called for more research into the impact of delays on Irish patients.

“We were also looking for research to be conducted on patients coming to the emergency departments who are on waiting lists,” he said.

This comes as new figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) show over 5,210 patients, including 100 children, have been without a bed in Irish hospitals since the beginning of September.

Its figures also show there were 385 people on trolleys waiting for a bed around the country today even though it is only mid-September. Those included 87 at University Hospital Limerick (UHL), the worst-affected nationally.

UHL, like many other hospitals, puts a small number of trolleys on wards around the hospital as part of its escalation plan to decongest the ED at busy times.

At Cork University Hospital some 17 patients waited for a bed, 21 at University Hospital Kerry while there were none again at University Hospital Waterford.

INMO General secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha warned: “Nurses and midwives are facing into yet another winter where they are left in impossible and often dangerous care environments.

“We know that overcrowding of this nature has significant impacts on the long-term health outcomes of any patient that spends more than six hours on a trolley.” 

Ms Ni Sheaghdha singled out Waterford during an interview with RTÉ, praising their approach in ensuring people do not have to wait.