Over 75s Wait An Average Of 20 Hours Before Admission to Naas Hospital

The wait time drops by 2 hours for people under 75.

The  average emergency department wait times in Kildare are 20.5 hours at the Naas Hospital Emergency Department for a patient aged 75 or older, and 18.5 hours for a person under 75, according to  new data from the HSE.

A Parliamentary Question to Sinn Féin's David Cullinane revealed people over 75 across the country are waiting on average almost 14 hours for ED admission.

The Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has admitted Emergency Department waiting times for over 75s are unacceptable.

The wait average wait time at Tallaght University Hospital 20.9 for those over 75, and 19.3 for people under 75.

There are longer waiting times in some hospitals, the average wait was 28.8 hours in Cork University Hospital, 26.8 in Cork's Mercy Hospital, while the wait in University Hospital Limerick was 22.2hours.

Sinn Féin TD for Kildare South Patricia Ryan has called on the Minister for Health to urgently implement a Zero Tolerance Plan to end long emergency department wait

Ms. Ryan commented: “For April, average emergency department wait times at Naas Emergency Department is 20.5 hours for a patient aged 75 or older. As the Sinn Féin spokesperson for Older People I am horrified by these figures.

“Patients have been suffering the torturous consequences of overcrowding for years, but these figures show that the problem has reached a new extreme.

“It is simply unacceptable that 32 people waited in the emergency department for almost two days

“The HSE target is that all patients be admitted within 6 hours, but only 1-in-3 patients are admitted within that timeframe.

“Waits of over twelve hours in emergency departments are unacceptable for any patient, but especially for elderly people who are often presenting with complex and multiple health needs, as well as mobility issues.

“Hospitals elsewhere in the State, such as Our Lady of Lourdes in Drogheda and in Cavan Hospital, have been very successful in reducing ED waits.

“Naas hospital must learn from the successes of others, and it is the Minister’s responsibility to ensure that the HSE is implementing best practice in each and every hospital.

“We urgently need a zero-tolerance plan to end excessive emergency department waits,” she concluded.