Hospital figures reveal cost of delayed discharges

DELAYS in discharging patients from four Southside hospitals is costing the State hundreds of thousands of euro every night, it has been claimed.

The HSE recently released figures which show that the 227 delayed discharge patients at the four hospitals accounted for almost a third of the 685 patients who were considered in the same category nationally.

The statistics show that on September 24 there were 118 delayed discharge patients at St James’s Hospital, 57 at St Vincent’s Hospital, 34 at Tallaght Hospital and 18 at St Columcille’s Hospital in Loughlinstown.

The figures also show that nine of the 118 patients at St James’s Hospital had been waiting for over six months to be discharged from the hospital. A further 46 patients had been waiting for between four and 26 weeks.

Patients categorised as delayed discharges have been deemed medically fit to leave the hospital by doctors but are preventing other sick patients from taking their places in acute beds because no alternative arrangements have been made to accommodate them.

Home and Community Care Ireland (HCCI), which is the trade association representing private home care providers in Ireland, noted that 90 per cent of the delayed discharge patients at the four Southside hospitals are elderly patients over the age 65.

They said the HSE’s own figures estimate the cost of a hospital stay per night at between e800 and e900. Based on these figures it means that the cost of accommodating the 227 delayed discharge patients at the four hospitals amounts to at least e181,600 per night.

Michael Harty of the HCCI has called for a review of the way the HSE funds the care of the elderly, with a view to freeing up acute hospital beds.

“Not only could improved home care provision speed up discharges, but it could help elderly, dependent people to live longer at home and prevent unnecessary admissions in the first place,

? he said.

Steven McMahon, chairman of the Irish Patients’ Association, said it was vitally important that patients, who are deemed medically fit for discharge from hospital beds, should be cared for in a community setting or in nursing homes.

“It is absolutely critical that the journeys of these patients are finished in the appropriate place of care, be it in their homes or in a nursing home,

? he said.

“That serves the patients who are waiting in A&E to gain admission to the hospital because it means there will be beds available.

?

A spokesperson for Tallaght Hospital said the HSE figure of 34 delayed discharge patients at the hospital was

“inaccurate

?.

“The current number of patients awaiting a nursing home bed in the hospital is 24,

? the spokesperson said.

“This is a significant improvement on the 57 patients who were awaiting nursing home beds this time last year.

?

A spokesperson for the HSE said its Frail Elderly Programme was currently providing enhanced supports to hospitals and community services in the Dublin region to streamline the care pathways for older persons who require acute hospital care.

She said the initiative would facilitate patients’ early discharge into an appropriate care setting,

“whether that is home or long term care

?.

“Each hospital has access to transitional care beds where patients who have completed their acute treatment can be accommodated while awaiting the release of funding under the Nursing Home Support Scheme,

? the spokesperson said.

Spokespeople for both St James’s and St Vincent’s hospitals referred Southside People to the HSE for comment.