HSE Hospitals Update: 2nd January 2019

As of 8am today there were 236 patients awaiting admission to a hospital bed. This compares to 514 on the same day last year, a decrease of 54%.

While flu like illness has not had a significant impact on numbers attending ED to date, we are now seeing signs that flu levels are rising and expect this will impact on the number of ED attendances and admissions over the coming weeks. The HSE would like to thank the public for continuing to avail of alternative service options available including injury units, local GP and pharmacy services and keeping our EDs for patients who need them most.

The number of patients attending Emergency Departments continues to increase year on year with 1.2 million attendances an increase of 42,000 on the same time last year.

While the majority of patients who attend Emergency Departments receive treatment and are discharged home, 25-30% of patients need to be admitted for further treatment. By end November, 315,000 patients had been admitted from ED, 8,400 more than in 2017.

In December 2018 there was a 19% decrease in 8am trolley numbers compared to December 2017 .

Performance relating to trolleys from May 2018 to November was improved. Comparison with quarter 2018 is skewed by the impact of a number of severe weather events.

*Provisional Trolley Data for December

No patient should have to wait long periods for admission from ED to a hospital ward. However, it is important to note that once a decision is made to admit a patient, they still remain under the care of the staff in ED until they can safely transfer to the appropriate hospital ward for their on-going care.

The HSE acknowledges and thank all staff across our services for their on-going focus on patient care.