Varadkar emails reveal trolley crisis in August ‘worst ever’

The number of patients waiting on trolleys in hospitals for admission last August was heading for "the worst ever" figure for that time of year, Minister for Health Leo Varadkar told his staff in internal emails

Newly released correspondence with senior health officials and advisers shows the Minister appeared to be extremely frustrated that significant State investment to deal with the trolley problem earlier in the year was not bearing fruit.

In an email sent on August 5th to senior figures in the HSE as well as in the Department of Health, Mr Varadkar said he was very concerned at the number of people on trolleys in hospitals at that stage.

“July showed some improvement, but less than I had hoped. August is bad. We are up 50 per cent on last year so far and it is heading for ‘a worst August ever’,” he wrote.

“With 1,000 more staff than this time last year and €74 million invested in extra Fair Deal [nursing home scheme] placements and community beds which has reduced delayed discharges to lower than this time next year [sic], we should be doing much better.”

Special delivery unit

The Minister said there was no evidence of increased admissions he had seen that would explain the increase in numbers on trolleys.

“Are there beds closed that weren’t this time last year?” he said. “I think we need to speed up the appointment of an SDU [special delivery unit] head dedicated to this and waiting lists full time. I’d also like a report on why we are in such a bad state despite everything that has been done.”

At the beginning of September Mr Varadkar again expressed concern to senior health service officials that the trolley numbers at the start of that month were “in a bad position despite the additional beds, staff and budget provided to the HSE by Government year on year”.

“Has any progress been made on appointing someone to head up the SDU and dedicated to this issue? I think this is now urgent,” he said.