Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 February 2014
241. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Health the measures being taken at Beaumont Hospital to deal with overcrowding in the accident and emergency department and to deal with an outbreak of flu; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8851/14]
View answerThe Department of Health, the HSE SDU and the INMO are at one in regarding trolley waits to be an unacceptable feature of the Irish healthcare system which must be addressed. However, year to date on a national basis we are 2.2% ahead of 2013 and 33.4% ahead of the baseline 2011 trolley count. These percentages are equivalent to 211 and 4,649 fewer patients on trolleys respectively.
I am advised by the HSE that the Emergency Department in Beaumont Hospital has been under pressure for some weeks. Since the start of 2014, the rate of admission to the hospital from the ED has increased from just below 1 in 5 patients attending its ED to just below 1 in 3. This indicates that those presenting so far this year have tended to be sicker and requiring more care and treatment. Notwithstanding this, Beaumont has achieved reductions in the first 7 weeks of 2014, as it did also in 2013:
Beaumont Hospital: Patients on Trolleys for first 7 weeks of the year: 2012 / 2013 / 2014
|
W/ending |
Number of patients on trolleys |
|
10 February 2012 |
1,001 |
|
8 February 2013 |
941 |
|
14 February 2014 |
850 |
Data published on Department website at http://www.dohc.ie/statistics/tw/archive.html
Beaumont has taken a number of steps already to cope with the increased demand. All of the 15 beds that were closed have been re-opened. Routine elective procedures have been postponed and additional capacity for diagnostic tests at weekends has opened. Consultants and senior medical staff engage in regular ward rounds to ensure that patients are identified for discharge as appropriate in a timely manner. Access has been provided for Beaumont patients to twelve additional beds in nursing homes to reduce delayed discharges. The number of patients awaiting long-term care has reduced from 85 at 28 November 2013 to 63 at 30 January 2014. In terms of staffing, all medical posts have been filled since January and an additional six nurses were appointed in the last nine weeks.
As with all hospitals experiencing pressure in the early weeks of 2014, Beaumont Hospital is making ongoing process improvements in its Emergency Department, its Acute Medical Assessment Unit (AMAU) and in-patient wards, in collaboration with the SDU and HSE. These measures have led to significant improvements in the patient experience times in Emergency Departments.
