Connacht Tribune
Hospitals lose thousands of bed days over delays
Galway’s three public hospitals are filled with treated patients who do not need to be in hospital any longer.
New damning figures reveal that thousands of bed days were lost at University Hospital Galway, Merlin Park and Portiuncula in Ballinasloe because of delays in discharging patients.
Galway University Hospitals (UHG and Merlin Park) lost a whopping 3,859 bed days in the first six months of this year alone because of delayed discharges. Another 597 bed days were lost between January and June at Portiuncula due to delayed discharges.
This in turn is contributing to overcrowding on wards and patients being left on trolleys in the corridors of the Emergency Department.
The official Health Service Executive figures were released to Fianna Fáil, following a parliamentary question to the Minister for Health, Simon Harris.
Nationally, there were more than 91,000 delayed discharges at hospitals across the country, with the major Dublin hospitals in particular guilty of wasting beds.
Grace Rothwell of the HSE’s acute hospital division said a patient is classified as a delayed discharge “when they no longer need to be in an acute hospital setting but have no access to appropriate step-down care”.
Galway East TD, Anne Rabbitte has slammed the loss of bed days as “unjustifiable”.
The Fianna Fáil TD said the chronic overcrowding at hospitals such as UHG cannot be solved until the problem of delayed discharges is tackled by the HSE and Government.
She said there was a lack of step-down beds or home supports in place to allow patients to be discharged from hospital and be where they want to be: at home or cared for in the community.
“From both a resource and patient care point of view, these lost bed days are unjustifiable, and it is further evidence that the level of support being provided to older patients is not good enough.
“We know that across the State, there are too few step-down beds in the health system and that home supports remain inadequate. The excessive and unforgivable situation where hundreds of patients are lying on trolleys in Emergency Departments or in wards is directly related to the number of bed days lost in the system,” said Deputy Rabbitte.
The bed days lost to delayed discharges at UHG and Merlin Park included: 637 in January, 578 in February, 687 in March, 687 in April, 636 in May, and 634 in June. The bed days lost to delayed discharges in Ballinasloe included: 56 in January, 115 in February, 155 in March, 170 in April, 65 in May and 36 in June. There were a further 1,815 bed days lost to delayed discharges at Mayo University Hospital and some 977 bed days lost at Roscommon University Hospital.
The Portumna based politician believes the resources spent on delayed discharges should be redirected to home care packages, which would be more efficient and ease pressure on a local hospital system that is at capacity.
“If a fraction of these lost days were put back into use every day through better supports for older people upon discharge, we could radically reduce the number of people lying on trolleys. My instinct is that the amount being spent on keeping these patients in hospital is a lot more than the cost of providing decent, quality home care packages or care in a step-down care facility.
“The HSE must accept that utilising our community hospital facilities to support and care for non-acute patients is the way to go. By removing them from acute hospitals, we can ensure that more beds are available for people attending Emergency Departments, as well as for those on waiting lists for in-patient procedures,” added Deputy Rabbitte.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
