HSE figures reveal that 463 beds are currently unavailable in Dublin Hospitals because of delayed discharge. This is a 47% increase since January with a further 148 beds unavailable.
Delayed discharge is when someone who is capable of leaving hospital after an operation can’t. This is caused mainly by a lack of convalescent beds and community based supports.
The worst Hospitals affected are:
• Connolly: 20% Delayed Discharge
• Beaumont: 18% Delayed Discharge
• St. James’s: 18% Delayed Discharge
Delayed discharge is contributing to long waiting times for operations, for access to A & E, and for appointments with consultants. It is also leaving enormously expensive theatres under used, while patients have to wait months in discomfort and worry for operations.
An additional 14,800 patients could be treated if delayed discharge was eradicated. This would reduce the number of people waiting longer than 6 months for an operation by 80%.
Currently 4 out of every 5 patients have to wait longer than 6 hours to be treated in Accident and Emergency in Dublin Hospitals. The problem is worst in Beaumont where only 1 in 10 people are seen on time. Southside Hospital St. James’s is best in Dublin where half of patients are seen within 6 hours. The HSE’s target is that no one should wait longer than 6 hours to be treated.
These figures reveal the perverse way that the Irish health care system operates, where not enough convalescents care is provided for patients who no longer need hospital accommodation. Providing this care would be far cheaper than providing ongoing care in an acute hospital,
Discharge of patients is going to get worse over the next 6 months:
• The home care package has been frozen so no new patients will get assistance.
• No new beds are being taken on by the HSE.
The freeze will continue until the Government’s “Fair Deal” scheme finally comes into operation in October, but this problem has risen by almost 50% over a 3 month period, and may well have doubled again by next October.
A brand new strategy is needed. The six hospitals are already €8.2 Million over Budget. Fine Gael’s strategy is for money to follow the patient so that patients can be treated in the most suitable environment, in the most cost effective way.
