The Government has set new targets for hospitals to limit the number of patients who have to wait for lengthy periods on trolleys.

Minister for Health Leo Varadkar said that by this winter there should be no more than 70 people at any one time waiting on trolleys for more than nine hours in hospitals.

He said the target formed part of a new initiative to tackle emergency department overcrowding. The Government is to provide €74 million in additional funding to deal with the hospital overcrowding and trolley crisis which has worsened in recent months.

As part of the initiative, €44 million is to be allocated to the Fair Deal nursing home scheme. The Minister said this would provide an additional 1,600 nursing home places and reduce the waiting time for approved applicants from 11 weeks to four weeks.

In addition, €30 million is to be earmarked to cover the cost of additional temporary contract beds until June and for more permanent community, convalescence and district hospital beds.

The measures are aimed at facilitating the discharge of patients who have completed their acute hospital care – so-called delayed discharge patients.

Mr Varadkar said overcrowding had eased since January but it remained higher than at this point last year. He also said while the number of delayed discharges had fallen from a peak of 850, the figure remained at over 700.

Nursing homes

“For these reasons, it is necessary to take additional action to provide more nursing home placements to free up acute hospital beds and make more community, convalescence and district hospital beds available.” He said the measures would take about eight weeks to be fully implemented.

“Reducing the level of delayed discharges and the wait for Fair Deal places in a meaningful way will improve significantly the situation in many hospitals.”

The announcement of the additional funding was made as the emergency department taskforce plan was published.

The plan produced by the taskforce includes measures to reduce delayed discharges and lengths of stay, in line with agreed Health Service Executive national service plan targets. It also includes measures to develop and extend access routes to urgent care; ensure integrated discharge planning; improve chronic disease management, and ensure effective leadership and oversight in hospitals.

The Irish Hospital Consultants Association said the actions “did not go far enough to deal properly with the unacceptable delays for patients”.