The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO ), following a comparative survey of its trolley watch figures for the first three months of each of the last six years, show that Mayo General Hospital is bucking the national trend, as trolley waits have almost halved from 2006 to 2011.
For the quarterly period in 2006, 648 patients were on trolleys in MGH; 763 for the same period in 2007; 419 in 2008; 499 in 2009; 641 in 2010; and for the first three months of 2011 332 patients were waiting on trolleys.
A spokesperson from the HSE said the reason for the decrease in the wait for acute hospital beds is due to three keys changes: the more effective use of hospital beds; the reduction in the number of patients who inappropriately occupy a hospital bed; and hospital discharge planning.
MGH has significantly reduced the length of time patients stay in hospital by changing the way surgery is planned and organised, with more patients being treated on a day case basis or admitted on the day of procedure, without any reduction in surgical activity.
Secondly, there has been greater integration of hospital and community services resulting in more effective and improved discharge planning. There has also been the development of packages of care to enable older people to be supported in their own home following discharge from hospital and the greater utilisation of district hospital, continuing care, and nursing home beds.
Also, discharge planning protocols have been put in place to ensure that discharges are effectively planned at the earliest opportunity, with regular bed management meetings of doctors, nurses, and administration staff to ensure the most effective use of all hospital beds. More medical patients are being assessed and treated on a day case basis in the medical assessment unit rather than being admitted to hospital. The hospital has also developed a contingency plan to address surges in referrals to the emergency department, such as seasonal flus.
Management acknowledged that “significant progress has been made but recognise that there is more to be done to ensure that no person has to wait on a trolley in the emergency department for a hospital bed for any significant period of time”.
