More than 5,500 patients have been in hospital for longer than medically necessary so far this year, with 29 patients having stayed in hospital for more than six months due to delays in accessing care they need in the community.
A delayed transfer of care occurs when a patient is ready to leave inpatient care but is still occupying a HSE-funded bed. It happens for a variety of reason, including delays in accessing home care, delays in accessing residential care, homelessness or complex care needs, among others.
An internal HSE report found there have been 5,548 delayed transfers up to August 5th, 2025. This has resulted in 85,556 lost bed days.
The number of delayed discharges has decreased when compared to the same periods in previous years. Up to August, 2023, there were 6,610 patients in hospital longer than necessary, while in 2024 the number was 6,235.
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According to the latest report, 74 patients have been in hospital this year despite being medically fit for discharge for three or more months, while 29 have been there for six or more months.
Every week, on average, there are 404 patients in hospital who are well enough to be discharged.
Galway University Hospitals have the highest weekly average at 44, followed by Letterkenny University Hospital (33) and Sligo University Hospital (26).
The hospital with the lowest average number is St Luke’s Radiation Oncology Network, with zero.
In the week ending August 5th, there were 393 delayed transfers, of which almost two-fifths related to delays in accessing nursing homes or residential care settings.
Forty-seven patients were delayed as their funding application for nursing home support had not yet been submitted and 12 patients were waiting for their application to be reviewed. A further 47 had been approved for funding but were waiting to secure a place in a care setting, while 20 patients were awaiting step-down placements at community nursing units, district hospitals or HSE facilities.
Complex clinical needs is another cause behind the delayed transfers, the HSE report shows.
There were 22 patients with behavioural, verbal or cognitive issues who were awaiting access to dementia-specific services in the week ending August 5th. Twelve patients were waiting for a “bespoke residential placement” due to challenging behaviour that requires specialist management.
The HSE is seeking to reduce delayed discharges to alleviate pressure on public hospital beds, which are often in high demand, resulting in more than 100,000 patients waiting on trolleys last year.
Delayed discharges are also a concern as they increase a patient’s chances of contracting a healthcare-associated infection.
A HSE spokesman said to help reduce delayed hospital exits, the executive provides temporary financial support for patients who are medically discharged but unable to return home.
“This funding facilitates timely transfers to private nursing homes or convalescent care, helping to free up acute hospital beds,” he said.
The spokesman said discharge delays can occur where patients are awaiting arrangement of suitable home support or residential care and they have complex clinical needs or legally complex circumstances.
“Delays experienced in identifying a suitable nursing home place for a patient can be caused by such beds to meet a patient’s specific needs not being available in the area at that time,” he said. “Some geographic areas are currently experiencing challenges in securing nursing home beds due to a shortage of available nursing home beds in the area.”
