New figures released to the Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín TD show that the length of time a person waits to be seen in emergency departments in Ireland now averages seven hours, which is one hour longer than a decade ago.
Speaking in response to the figures, Deputy Tóibín said:
“Average wait times in our EDs is one of the most important indicators of the functionality of our Emergency Departments. Extended wait times in EDs leads to delayed treatment and poorer outcomes for patients. They also show the enormous pressure that is on our hospital EDs. On average hundreds of thousands of patients wait for more than one hour longer for treatment in EDs around the country than they did 10 years ago. Despite some improvement in the figures in recent years, waiting times are getting worse again. 7.2 hours is the average wait times for a patient nationally, but for many hospitals its much worse. In Cork University Hospitals patients are waiting nearly 10 hours to be seen and initially treated. Patients in Beaumont are waiting nearly 11 hours to be seen and initially treated and in Naas hospital patients are waiting nearly 11 1/2 hours to be treated. This is scandalous.
We know that since 2017 over a half a million patients have left emergency departments around the country without being seen at all. This is undoubtedly partly because patients got fed up with the waiting time, or couldn’t cope or in some cases concluded they’d be safer at home. Overcrowded EDs and slow processing times increase the chance of mortality. A key question here which I believe the HSE needs to answer is how many people have died because they were left waiting too long before being seen in an emergency department. It’s absolutely scandalous that at a time when all these statistics were going in the wrong direction the HSE decided to impose a ban on recruitment across our hospitals. We need to ensure that we redirect investment away from the layers of administration to the front line. Hospitals need to be paid on the basis of the number of operations, treatments, therapies, engagements they have with patients, not on the layers of management that they have. We need to end the current recruitment embargo for front line staff. We must provide improved pay terms and conditions to get the front line staff we need”.
Its incredible to think that the HSE are still seeking to close EDs such as Our Lady’s Hospital Navan at this time of such pressure. If the experience of Limerick and the Midwest has taught us anything, we need to reopen EDs rather than close them.
