Gridlock in country's hospitals over 'bed blockers'
More than 144,000 bed days were lost to hospitals during the first half of the year because hundreds of patients fit for discharge could not be transferred elsewhere.
The worst-hit hospitals were also those that frequently have the longest queues in A&E departments every day because there are not enough beds to admit patients from trolleys.
The worst affected was St James's Hospital in Dublin which lost 27,279 bed days due to bed blockers.
This was followed by Beaumont Hospital which had 20,116 lost bed days and the Mater which was down 18,236.
Fine Gael TD Dr James Reilly, who obtained the figures, said the failure to transfer patients to suitable facilities outside hospital was causing gridlock.
It follows revelations in the Irish Independent last week that the number of bed blockers has escalated by 58pc in the past two years, with 899 people now wrongly detained in acute hospitals.
Dr Reilly said the loss of bed days in the first half of this year amounted to an increase of 70pc on comparable 2008 figures. He predicted if this trend continues the number of bed days lost will top 360,000 in the full year.
Trend
"The true meaning of these figures must be understood. The number of bed days lost to delayed discharges is like one of our major hospitals being closed down for a year.
"I dislike the term 'bed blockers' but there is no doubt the health service is effectively gridlocked.
"Patients can't get in on one end or out on the other. This entails a massive waste of resources as well as seriously hindering the recovery of patients who require discharge to appropriate rehabilitation, convalescent or supported homecare settings."
Asked to comment, the Health Service Executive (HSE) said last night that as of this week there are 743 of these patients who no longer need to be in hospital.
"The average number of delayed discharges for the month of August was 914. Comparing this week's figure of 743 to the average for August of 914 shows a decrease of 18.7pc
"Ireland has about 16,000 acute hospital beds (public and private) of which at any given time approximately about 4.5pc are occupied by patients who are clinically discharged for periods of two weeks or more but who encounter delays in accessing more appropriate care," said a spokesperson.
- Eilish O'Regan Health Correspondent
