Moves to cut numbers on hospital trolleys under way

A MAJOR initiative has begun to reduce the number of people waiting on trolleys in the eight hospitals responsible for almost 60 per cent of delays.

Funding of €725,710 will be provided for a range of measures to tackle the lengthy waiting times for patients on trolleys at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda.

Last month it was the most overcrowded hospital in the State. Calls were made for the Health Information and Quality Authority to investigate delays at the hospital’s emergency department when, for two consecutive days, it had 48 patients waiting on trolleys and chairs.

Measures agreed with the hospital to reduce trolley waiting times include the opening of 28 low-acuity or non-acute beds at Our Lady’s Hospital in Navan and Louth County Hospital in Dundalk, as well as eight medical beds in Drogheda itself.

Drogheda is one of the eight hospitals responsible for 58 per cent of trolley waiting lists. Fifteen hospitals are responsible for 80 per cent of patients waiting on trolleys for admission.

Five Dublin hospitals – Tallaght, the Mater, Beaumont, St Vincent’s and Loughlinstown – as well as Cork University Hospital and Galway University Hospital are the other main offenders.

The special delivery unit established in July by Minister for Health James Reilly to reduce inpatient waiting lists and trolley waiting times in emergency departments has signed off on supports for seven of the eight hospitals. Final discussions are under way to tackle the problem.

In addition to opening eight medical beds at Drogheda and 28 non-acute beds in Navan and Dundalk, supports include the opening of 27 additional non-acute beds in the community and five additional long-term beds a week.

Last week the hospital had 22 patients who were clinically cleared to leave the hospital but were unable to do so due to a lack of necessary supports.

The package of supports includes home help care and funding for aids and appliances.

The hospital will also extend, to 18 hours a day, the opening hours of its acute medical assessment unit, which determines whether admission should be through the emergency department or otherwise.

The measures were agreed with the hospital after intensive discussions between hospital management, the special delivery unit and the clinical programmes in the HSE. All eight hospitals were invited by the special unit to seek supports to deal with the problem and these were analysed by the unit and the HSE.

Funding for Drogheda will be released to the hospital between now and the end of the year based on specific performance requirements.

Terms and conditions include the hospital having seven-day ward discharge rounds and a commitment to implement the HSE acute medicine programme. The additional capacity provided under the agreement must not be offset by reductions elsewhere.

The funding comes from the National Treatment Purchase Fund and will continue until the end of the year.

Trolley chaos: Worst offenders

The eight hospital responsible for 58 per cent of trolley waiting lists are:

Our Lady of Lourdes, Drogheda;

Tallaght, Dublin;

The Mater, Dublin;

Beaumont, Dublin;

St Vincent’s, Dublin;

Loughlinstown, Dublin;

Cork University Hospital;

Galway University Hospital.

15 hospitals are responsible for 80 per cent of patients waiting on trolleys for admission.