Pensioners left on A&E trolleys around the clock
AN AVERAGE of five elderly patients a day were forced to wait on trolleys for more than 24 hours in University Hospital Limerick last year, figures have revealed.
On 1,746 occasions last year, University Hospital Limerick failed to achieve the HSE target that states no-one over 75 should have to wait for a day in the emergency department.
The figures average out at nearly five elderly people every day forced to wait on a trolley or chair for longer than 24 hours.
In Dublin’s Mater Hospital, 1,458 patients aged 75 or more waited longer than a day and night in A&E last year.
A spokesman for the Mater said its services have come under growing pressure due to demographic trends which resulted in a 6% increase in emergency department attendances in 2017.
They added: ‘We are working to ensure our services are protected for those with greatest need and prioritise patients based on their acuity and complexity.’
In University Hospital Galway, 1,244 elderly patients waited for more than 24 hours.
A UHG spokesman said it received an average of 200 patients in its emergency department every day last year.
The spokesman added: ‘Over the last number of months in particular, the hospital has managed high volumes of patients, including a surge in flu cases and significant volumes of frail elderly patients with chronic conditions and complex care needs.’
The hospital insisted every effort is made to minimise the length patient waits, particularly for the elderly, and apologised for any distress caused to patients who wait for lengthy periods to be admitted.
The figures were provided to Sinn Féin deputy Louise O’Reilly by the HSE in response to a parliamentary question.
The party’s health spokeswoman said: ‘It’s important to note that this is one of the only areas where you see targets set by the HSE and they’ve failed completely in maintaining it. Behind every statistic is someone’s granny, someone’s uncle, someone’s sister.
‘These are real, sick, people who have had to endure an unacceptably long time on a trolley.’
Commenting on the figures, the HSE said it ‘strives to ensure the provision of fair, equitable and timely access to quality, safe health services to all patients attending ED’. The statement added: ‘The HSE National Service Plan 2018 aims to improve the provision of unscheduled care through improved pathways of care of older people living with frailty in acute hospitals in association with the Integrated Care Programme for Older Persons and strives to ensure no patient remains in ED for over 24 hours.
‘Unfortunately during 2017 there have been breaches in the Patient Experience Time for patients aged 75 years and over of more than 24 hours. All sites seek to optimise patient flow and minimise wait times for patients. However, available inpatient beds are allocated based on patient [condition].’
Of the 25 hospitals listed by the HSE in its response to the parliamentary question, St Luke’s General Hospital Kilkenny performed the best, breaching the 24-hour ED turnover target for elderly patients on just five occasions last year.
Portiuncula University Hospital failed the target on nine occasions, while Sligo University Hospital breached it 11 times.
Yesterday, 638 patients – including 18 children – languished on trolleys in hospitals around the country on the second-worst day of overcrowding this month. Yesterday’s figures were only beaten on February 19 when the total stood at 643 according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.
Responding to the revelation earlier in the month that 11,200 elderly patients waited more than 24 hours on a trolley, the HSE said: ‘7.57% (11,261 patients) of the over 75-yearold patients were not seen within 24 hours. The HSE is making every effort to ensure these patients are given priority.’
‘These are real, sick people’