Drop in numbers waiting in emergency departments - HSE

There has been a drop in the number of patients waiting in hospital emergency departments, according to figures from the Health Service Executive (HSE).

The numbers waiting in emergency departments dropped at the start of the weekend, down from 427 on Friday to 337 on Saturday morning, according to internal HSE figures.

There were 27 patients waiting in emergency departments in St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin, 24 in the Mater hospital, 23 in Galway University Hospital and 22 patients waiting in St James’s Hospital.

Some 667 patients were in hospital with Covid-19 at 8am on Saturday, about the same as the 670 Covid-19 patients the day before. Twenty-eight patients with the virus were in intensive care.

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The health service had forecast that more than 900 people would be in hospitals with the flu by early January, as well as up to 1,200 patients with Covid-19.

Dr Colm Henry, HSE chief clinical officer, has said health officials are “significantly concerned” about the trajectory of the influenza virus, with no indication yet of when the wave will peak.

Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) figures show there was a sharp rise in flu cases last week. Hospitalisations for the flu are set to shortly exceed a previous peak of the numbers who were hospitalised during the 2019 flu season.

The first week of January is traditionally one of the busiest in hospitals, however the numbers waiting on trolleys have already hit record levels, with 760 at one point in December.

A HSE crisis management team has been set up to monitor the situation in hospitals.

There is an expectation that elective surgeries may be curtailed or moved to hospitals without emergency departments to take some pressure off busier hospitals.

General Practitioners have also been asked to open their practices until later in the day during the week, and for several hours on Saturdays, to try to take some pressure off hospital emergency departments.