More than 6,000 bed days were lost at Galway’s public hospitals in the first nine months of this year because patients who were fit to be discharged were still occupying HSE beds.
A total of 16,356 bed days were lost in that period in the west and north-west in the hospitals run by the Saolta Hospital Group, this week’s meeting of the HSE West’s regional health forum was told.
The highest number was in Galway city (4,662 bed days at University Hospital Galway and Merlin Park University Hospital ) and 1,295 at Portiuncula University Hospital in Ballinasloe. The lowest figure was recorded at Roscommon University Hospital (754 ) while almost 3,000 bed days were lost at Mayo University Hospital in Castlebar.
Tony Canavan, the chief executive of Saolta told the meeting, which was held at Merlin Park Hospital on Tuesday, that the definition of delayed discharge or delayed transfer of care occurs when a patient is ready to leave inpatient care but is still occupying a HSE funded bed.
He was replying to a question raised by Fianna Fail city councillor John Connolly who inquired if there was a standard procedure across Saolta hospitals as to when a patient is considered a delayed discharge.
Mr Canavan explained that delayed discharges can occur in both acute and community settings. He said that patients are ready to leave inpatient care when a clinical decision has been made that they are medically ready for discharge to their home or for transfer to a non-acute setting; when a multidisciplinary team has reviewed them and a decision has been made that they are ready to be transferred home or to an alternate care setting; and when the patient is considered to be safe to discharge to their home/transfer to an acute setting.
