Patients waiting more than 24 hours for bed in EDs up 20% last year

The number of people waiting more than 24 hours in emergency departments surged by 20 per cent last year, compared to pre-pandemic levels.

New figures show that 51,001 people waited more than 24 hours in an emergency department for admission in 2022 – up 21 per cent on 2019, when 42,134 people waited longer than a day.

The figures were released to Sinn Féin’s health spokesman, Waterford TD David Cullinane, who said they showed Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly’s plan to tackle overcrowded emergency departments was “not working”.

“We do not have enough hospital beds and staff which creates overcrowding and long waits,” he said. Sinn Féin said the figures show that only 43 per cent of patients were admitted to hospital within a target time of nine hours in December 2022, down from 50 per cent in December 2019.

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The figures disimprove for people over 75, down from 38 per cent in December 2019 to 30 per cent. Earlier this week, the Irish Patients’ Association released an analysis of HSE data claiming that almost 1,300 patients died over the winter as a result of delays in hospital admission from emergency departments.

The IPA said the level was 174 higher than last year. The association pointed to research which estimated there is one death within 30 days for every 82 patients forced to wait more than six to eight hours for a bed.

In total, the hospital group that saw the greatest number of people waiting more than 24 hours was Ireland East, which includes the Mater Hospital in Dublin, the Midland Regional Hospital in Mullingar, Our Lady’s Hospital Navan, St Luke’s General Hospital in Kilkenny, St Michael’s Hospital in Dun Laoghaire, St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin and Wexford General Hospital. There were 11,832 people waiting more than 24 hours across 2022 in these hospitals, up from 9,338 in 2019.*

In December last year, the data shows that in Naas General Hospital, just 48.9 per cent of people over 75 were seen within 24 hours – the lowest in the country. **

In response to the data, the HSE said less sick people can experience longer wait times compared to those with life-threatening illnesses, who are prioritised. It said there are multiple interactions a patient might have before being admitted, such as triage, tests and treatments – and that a delay to any one of these can increase a patient’s wait time “and can create bottlenecks in the emergency department”.

Meanwhile, factors outside the hospital also impact the flow of patients into it – including the availability of inpatient beds for admissions, and of community beds or home care supports for those awaiting discharge. “These factors in turn slow down the transfer of patients from the Emergency Department,” the HSE said.

Mr Cullinane said that the “objective of ensuring that patients are getting the right care, in the right place, and at the right time is not being met. Instead EDs are getting busier and patients are waiting longer for admission to a bed”.

Many patients, he said, “spent days on trolleys and the situation is getting worse, not better”.

The HSE said it has implemented plans to support acute and community services responding to high demand for emergency departments. It set up a National Crisis Management Team and increased resources to ambulance services and GPs while increasing staffing, homecare and community beds – as well as implementing additional working out of hours and at weekends.

*An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified Ireland East Hospital group as covering Beaumont Hospital, Cavan General, Connolly Hospital and Our Lady of Lourdes. These hospitals comprise the RCSI Hospital group, which was the group with the lowest number of patients waiting for 24 hours or more in emergency departments.

**An earlier version of this article stated in relation to Naas General Hospital that just 48.9 per cent of people were seen within 24 hours. In fact, it was just 48.9 per cent of people over 75 who were seen in that time frame.