1,700 elderly patients waited over 24 hours in A&E last year

More than 1,700 elderly patients faced waiting times of over 24 hours in the Emergency Department at University Hospital Galway last year.

UHG had the worst record for Emergency Departments across the country for waiting times for patients aged 75 and above.

Figures from the HSE show that 1,737 patients aged 75 or over had to wait in UHG’s ED for more than 24 hours in 2018.

That represents just over one fifth (22.2%) of all patients aged over 75 who were admitted to that unit last year – the worst record of all the Emergency Departments in the Republic of Ireland.

The next highest rate was in University Hospital Limerick at 21.8% (1,932 patients); Naas general at 16.8% (732 patients) and the Mater at 15.6% (1,529 patients).

The best rates recorded for waiting times of less than 24 hours for patients aged over 75 were in in Portiuncula, Sligo, Mayo and Letterkenny, all at more than 99%.

The national average for waits of less than 24 hours was 91.5%.

The figures were released by the HSE to Sinn Féin following a Parliamentary Question.

City Sinn Féin councillor Mairéad Farrell said: “Just as the total number of patients on trolleys has increased year on year across the state while Simon Harris has been Minister for Health, the number of elderly patients who have had to wait over 24 hours for care has also increased under his watch every year.

“It is incredibly worrying that across the state 14,041 patients over 75 years old were not seen within the HSE 24 hour target timeframe last year – an increase of 2,821 older patients than in 2017.

“In UHG alone, 1,737 elderly patients had to wait over 24 hours. That’s the second highest in the country [University Hospital Limerick recorded 1,932 but had a better overall percentage of elderly patient waits of less than 24 hours].

“We all know that older patients are often among the most vulnerable people in our hospitals due to their age and the additional medical needs that can sometimes accompany aging. Treating them urgently prevents escalation of injury and ensures safety and swift treatment.

“The staff in UHG do an amazing job and recently I marched with the nurses there in their struggle for improvements in pay and conditions. The reality is that they are doing more with less resources; they are treating more patients even though there is a recruitment and retention crisis across all areas of the health service.

“All the while, patients and staff are being failed by the Minister and by this Government. The solution is more capacity, more staff, and the implementation of Sláintecare; however, the Government are damaging capital projects across the State due to the children’s hospital overspend, they are refusing to engage with nurses and midwives to resolve that crisis, and they appear to have no interest in implementing Sláintecare,” said Cllr Farrell.