Over 800 bed days lost in Roscommon University Hospital last year as a direct consequence of delayed discharges.
Recent HSE figures reveal that 206,606 bed days were lost in Irish hospitals as a direct consequence of delayed discharges over the course of 2018.
Fianna Fáil TD for Roscommon/Galway Eugene Murphy has highlighted the fact that a breakdown of those figures show that over 10,000 bed days were lost in hospitals in counties Galway and Roscommon last year due to delayed discharges.
A patient is categorised as a delayed discharge when they no longer require care in an acute hospital setting but have no access to an appropriate step down care facility.
“A breakdown of the figures show that almost 8,000 hospital bed days were lost in Galway University Hospitals in 2018 with almost 1,700 bed days lost due to delayed discharges in Portiuncula Hospital and over 800 bed days lost in Roscommon University Hospital last year. The rate of lost beds exposes the inadequacy of our health system.
“Delayed discharges have a very significant impact on the number of people left lying on trolleys in our Emergency Departments. If beds are occupied by patients who should in fact be being cared for in another facility, it’s impossible for ED staff who are already working desperately hard to have the ability to respond to surges in demand,” said Deputy Murphy.
The Fianna Fáil TD also highlighted the fact that over 1,700 elderly people over the age of 75 were forced to endure a lengthy wait of more than 24 hours in hospital Emergency Departments of Galway University Hospitals during 2018.
“Without a doubt delayed discharges contributed to those waiting times. We desperately need more step down beds and additional residential care beds to tackle these waiting periods and also to address the alarming number of lost hospital bed days,” concluded Deputy Murphy.
