100,000 patients left waiting for bed

Record levels of hospital overcrowding this year

‘People are scared to go to the ED’

A RECORD number of patients have waited for a bed in our overcrowded hospitals since the beginning of the year – passing 100,000 for the first time.

The number of people languishing on trolleys has nearly doubled in the last five years, rising 48% from 67,863 in 2013 to 100,385 now, with a month of 2018 still to go.

Until now, last year had been the worst on record with 98,891 patients waiting for beds in 2017.

Patients are often treated on trolleys, chairs, in waiting rooms or wherever else there is space.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation counts the numbers waiting for a bed at 8am every morning, and tallied 451 yesterday. University Hospital Limerick is the worst affected, with 10,554 people going without a bed so far this year.

A total of 430,554 patients have waited for beds since 2013.

‘It is a very serious situation; the patient’s right to safety is violated when they are treated on trolleys because they have a delayed admission to a ward,’ said Stephen McMahon, director of the Irish Patients’ Association. ‘Every patient who experiences a delayed admission should be offered a chance to comment.’

A Department of Health spokesman said increasing capacity is a priority under the Emergency Department Task Force’s Winter Plan, which comes into effect on Saturday and focuses on over-75s.

‘These patients are the highest users of most health and social care services, have more complex needs and longer stays in our acute hospitals,’ they said.

‘Hospitals are increasingly operating at, or above, capacity, with year-round demand pressures that are further challenged over the winter months.’

At 91,000, the HSE’s trolley figures are lower than the INMO’s tally, as they only count emergency departments – whereas the INMO counts all wards.

A spokesman said: ‘The HSE truly regrets that any patient, and especially older patients, should have to wait for admission to a hospital ward. The number of patients aged 75 and over presenting to ED and who need to be admitted to hospital for treatment has been rising year on year.’ They added that hospitals report high numbers of delayed discharge patients who remain in hospital until the support they need becomes available. Yet Nursing Homes Ireland claimed there had been ‘zero engagement’ with the nursing home sector regarding the discharge of elderly patients into care homes. CEO Tadhg Daly said a lack of communication and support was resulting in extended unnecessary stays in hospitals.

Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil’s health spokesman said the ‘inexcusable’ bed shortage has made people afraid of going to hospital.

‘People are terrified of needing to go to their local emergency department. It also means that our doctors and nurses are working in often unbearable conditions,’ said Stephen Donnelly.

‘The Government is presiding over a service that is getting worse, not better, despite big increases in funding. Solutions have been offered by me, and by clinicians, but they are not being acted on. At this point, it is simply inexcusable.’