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Cllr Pa Daly
SINN Féin Councillor Pa Daly has called out the HSE and the Minister for Health for their failure to tackle delayed discharges at University Hospital Kerry which is a huge factor causing overcrowding at the hospital.
Cllr Daly, a candidate in the upcoming general election, expressed his frustration on the issue after it was revealed recently that an average of 377 bed days are being lost every month in University Hospital Kerry due to delayed discharges.
Cllr Daly said: “Delayed discharge patients are clinically fit for discharge from hospital, but because of a lack of home help or a nursing home bed they can’t be discharged – this practice constitutes one of the biggest financial wastes in the health service and has cost the health service nearly €600 million since 2016.
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“Hundreds of millions is being wasted unnecessarily by keeping these patients in acute hospital beds. Delayed discharges are a huge factor in the trolley crisis and prevents sick patients from getting the hospital bed they need.
“It is also incredibly unfair on those patients who are stuck in hospital who are ready to be discharged. These patients should be given the home help they need so they can be discharged, or given a space in a step down facility or nursing home. That way these hospital beds can be used to get patients off trolleys and ease the huge pressure in our Emergency Departments,” he concluded.
