Is there a solution for the long waiting lists at hospitals?

New wait times at hospitals in Ireland released show there is no change to the current overcrowding issue, with Galway being in the top five worst performing.

According to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), the current trolley watch number stands at 58 people waiting today at the University Hospital Galway (UHG) and 569 across the country. In the month of January, UHG was in third place with 1,041 patients waiting for beds. 

“It is the view of INMO members that hospital overcrowding has not improved,” said INMO General Secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha in a statement. “On each hospital site the occupancy rate is above 83 per cent which means that the provision of safe care is compromised.”

These numbers released at the end of each month fluctuate constantly and on no day in the month of January were there less than 450 people in the whole of Ireland waiting for a bed. Many of the people waiting for hospital beds were waiting in chairs to get treatment. 

“Some of the care environments are totally inappropriate, in some instances the care is provided on chairs,” said Ms Sheaghdha. “The HSE must agree a realistic workforce plan which provides for sufficient nurses and midwives to be employed to provide safe care and plan for more beds to open.”

Government response

The government is aware of the long waiting times and has put into place an organisation to help with the overcrowding and wait times. The National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) was created in 2004 under the Statutory Instrument 179 – National Treatment Purchase Fund (Establishment) Order and the Nursing Homes Support Scheme Act of 2009.

According to the NTPF website, this corporate body works with the Department of Health, the HSE, public hospitals and private nursing homes to help those with the longest waiting times to get medical attention sooner.

The most recently released waiting lists by the NTPF have shown that patients all across the country have to wait for different treatments. Some of these waiting times range from a few months, to more than one year.   

For the last year, UHG had the most patients on waiting lists in the country, for both inpatient and outpatient.

The different statistics show that a total of 85,755 inpatient cases were on the waiting list around the country, with 10,005 of those being children. The majority of these were within a six-month window, where more than 6,000 were waiting for both 12-18 months and more than 18 months. 

Looking back at reports from 2021, the overall progression until now has been an increase in patients on waiting lists, for both adults and children.

The HSE did not respond to requests for a comment.