Written Answers. - Dublin Hospital Accident and Emergency Service.
Noel Ahern
Question:
64
Mr. N. Ahern
asked the
Minister for Health
if he will give details of the delays in the casualty department, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin 9, for people waiting for ward beds after being admitted; the number of occasions that patients have been on trolleys in excess of 12 hours in casualty; the number of occasions that patients have been on trolleys in excess of 24 hours in casualty; the number of occasions that patients have been on trolleys in excess of 48 hours in casualty; and if the delay was five days on one occasion.
The Accident and Emergency department of Beaumont Hospital provides a 24-hour service.
Because of the nature of the work, it is not possible to predict the workload of hospital accident and emergency departments at any particular time. At all times, however, priority is accorded to those patients most in need of immediate medical attention. Because of the unpredictable nature of the workload which may present, it can happen that on occasion patients must be placed in temporary accommodation pending the availability of more appropriate beds. I can assure the Deputy that every effort is made to keep this practice to a minimum.
All patients, whilst in the accident and emergency department, are under the care of medical and nursing staff. Every endeavour is made to make patients as comfortable as possible and this includes the provision of food to patients while they are awaiting a hospital bed.
The position regarding the accident and emergency departments is monitored by my Department on an ongoing basis. In this regard, shortly after coming into office I approved a sum of £500,000 to provide an immediate response to a problem of this type. In December 1993, following further discussions, I allocated an additional £250,000 to the Eastern Health Board to enable the pressures on the accident and emergency hospitals to be eased. This was achieved through the placing of more than 100 patients from the six major accident and emergency hospitals in Dublin, who were no longer in need of acute hospital care, in stepdown accommodation more appropriate to their condition.
In relation to Beaumont Hospital, there have been a number of occasions in recent months when, owing to the accident and emergency department being particularly busy, some patients have been accommodated on trolleys for a period until a bed has become available. I have been informed by the hospital that in the March to May 1994 period there were 43 occasions on which a patient was awaiting a bed for more than 12 hours, and eight occasions on which a patient was awaiting a bed for more than 24 hours. The hospital has no record of any patient having had to wait for a bed for more than 48 hours. It should be noted that during the three-month period in question, more than 14,000 patients attended the accident and emergency department of Beaumont Hospital and that there were some 2,900 emergency admissions to the hospital.
I would like to assure the Deputy of my continuing concern that the accident and emergency hospitals in Dublin are enabled to respond effectively to the demands placed upon them and that I will continue to monitor the situation with a view to taking further action if required.
