A TOTAL of 44 per cent of patients in hospital emergency departments awaiting admission had to wait longer than the official maximum target period of 12 hours in the first two months of the year, according to new figures provided to the board of the Health Service Executive (HSE).
The report also reveals that the number of patients having to wait more than 24 hours for admission also increased over the same period last year.
A statistical report drawn up by HSE management and given to the organisation's board earlier this month maintains that based on a census carried out at 2pm each day, the number of people awaiting admission (following a decision to admit) rose from 7,200 in February, 2007 to 7,700 in February, 2008.
"In October 2007 we introduced a maximum 12-hour admission wait target. During January and February, there were 3,374 occurrences where patients waited more than 12 hours. This represents 44 per cent of all patient admission waits during this year so far," the HSE report states.
The report says that in the first two months of the year, the average number of patients on trolleys in A&E awaiting admission to a bed was 129 each day.
This figure is slightly higher than the 123 patients on average who were on trolleys each day in emergency departments during the same period in 2007.
The report says that while the average number of patients waiting for less than 12 hours for a bed fell by 17 per cent over the same period last year from 47 to 39, the numbers waiting for longer periods increased. It says there were 33 patients each day waiting six to 12 hours for admission, an increase of 17.9 per cent over the 28 patients on average who were on trolleys each day in the same period in 2007.
The report also reveals that the average number of patients waiting 12-24 hours each day for admission increased by nearly 10 per cent from 41 in the first two months of last year to 45 in January and February this year.
The report also says there were 11 patients on average on trolleys in A&E for longer than 24 hours in the first two months of the year compared with seven in the same period last year, an increase of 57 per cent.
A HSE spokesman said this January had been significantly busier in emergency departments than January 2007. However, he said that for most of February the position had been better than last year.
The HSE said there were higher levels of the winter vomiting bug recorded this year than in the same period last year and that the incidence of influenza peaked earlier.
The report says the number of people presenting at A&E in hospitals increased overall by 2.5 per cent in January and February compared with the same period last year.
