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Donnelly: Emergency Department Taskforce will meet next Monday

The Emergency Taskforce was formed in 2015 to tackle emergency department overcrowding.

A MEETING OF the Emergency Department Taskforce has been convened for Monday 18 September, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has confirmed.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio’s News at One, the minister said that he had discussed the matter with INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha, and would be attending himself.

The Emergency Taskforce was formed in 2015 to tackle emergency department overcrowding. It is co-chaired by the HSE’s Chief Operations Officer, and the INMO’s General Secretary.

This morning, the INMO called for a meeting of the taskforce to be convened this week.

In a statement, it said that the country is in a “perilous situation” when it comes to hospital overcrowding.

“We haven’t yet reached the midpoint of the month and we have already seen over 3,335 patients on trolleys, chairs or other inappropriate bed spaces so far in September. Over 64 children have been on trolleys so far this month, with schools only back in earnest in the last week.

“Nurses are once again finding themselves of having to apologise to patients and their families because of the state of hospital overcrowding,” it said.

The HSE has confirmed to The Journal that they have in place multiple plans outside of the taskforce to tackle hospital overcrowding.

“Two parallel processes are underway – an immediate HSE Urgent and Emergency Care operational plan, which outlines key measures that are underway in 2023, and a new three-year integrated UEC plan.

“Both plans aim to improve Urgent and Emergency Care services, with a particular focus on emergency departments, timely discharges and patient flows through the system – from home, to primary and community care, to EDs if needed, through hospital and discharge to ongoing supports,” it said.

Hospital overcrowding has been one of the main issues facing the health service for a number of years.

According to the HSE, hospital admissions for 2023 are 11% higher than they were in 2019.

The worst hit hospitals are all outside of the capital. University Hospital Limerick continues to be a blackspot, with 1,885 patients without bed in August.

Limerick’s tally was double that of the next worst location, Cork University Hospital – 984 – which was closely followed by University Hospital Galway – 920.

Sligo University Hospital, and Letterkenny University Hospital completed the top five.

However, Donnelly maintained that the trend was improving. In Limerick for instance, he said that while admissions to the emergency department had seen a “very large increase”, the number of those patients who were forced to sleep on trolleys or in corridors was decreasing.

He said that this was due to a “big increase in resources”.

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    Mute Ned Flanders
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    Sep 18th 2018, 9:48 PM

    Went today. Its great craic and well worth a trip out. The Garda have done a great job with traffic in the area too.

    198
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    Mute Finbarr Lucey
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    Sep 18th 2018, 10:52 PM

    @Ned Flanders: of all the ploughing matches I went to over the years I have to say screggan tullamore is by far the best area to hold the event. So easy to get there and get back from. No delays , very well managed by the Gardai . And very Central for people to travel. Should be held there every year I think.

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    Mute Bilbo Baggins
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    Sep 18th 2018, 11:02 PM

    @Finbarr Lucey: couldn’t agree more. Especially after the disaster that was New Ross.

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    Mute Finbarr Lucey
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    Sep 18th 2018, 11:25 PM

    @Bilbo Baggins: and castlemartyr

    14
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    Mute Siobhàn Malone
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    Sep 18th 2018, 9:58 PM

    Should it last for four days to allow for issues like these and accommodate the vast crowds that want to attend…? has the ploughing out-grown 3 days?

    97
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    Mute LITTLEONE
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    Sep 18th 2018, 9:40 PM

    Going on Thursday so hopefully bit better weather.

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    Mute Dáithí O Raghailaigh
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    Sep 18th 2018, 9:41 PM

    that’s the headline for all the papers tomorrow ..

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    Mute Joe L
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    Sep 18th 2018, 10:43 PM

    97,500 there today. Will it ever get to the stage where there are too many people on site?

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    Mute Do the Bort man
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    Sep 19th 2018, 9:31 AM

    @Joe L: there 112,500 attended the first day last year, I was there on that day and yesterday, it’s very busy where the walkways intersect, but overall its ok

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    Mute Seeking Truth
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    Sep 19th 2018, 7:17 AM

    Extending the show to a 4th day is a great idea. The traffic is always terrible so maybe that would ease things up a bit…

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    Mute James O'Brien
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    Sep 18th 2018, 10:18 PM

    Who got knocked out by a fart wind then..

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Sep 19th 2018, 10:11 AM

    @James O’Brien: Feeling a bit thick now are you? Check out also the mounting damage and the death. Fool.

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    Mute DeFonz
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    Sep 19th 2018, 8:22 AM

    Is plough judging so minutely calibrated that they had a concern that the wind might disrupt the pattern of soil on the top of the furrows to such a degree that the readings would be inaccurate?

    have no knowledge of this stuff, merely intrigued by rural matters…

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Sep 19th 2018, 8:44 AM

    @DeFonz: try Google and learn a bit.

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