Patients in Tipperary hospitals waiting more than six months to be discharged

Patients in Nenagh Hospital and Tipperary University Hospital in Clonmel have had to wait up to six months - and some even longer - in order to be discharged or receive a transfer of care from the overcrowded hospitals in recently released figures from the HSE.

According to the figures, some medically well patients in both Nenagh Hospital and Tipperary University Hospital in Clonmel who no longer needed to be in overcrowded hospitals were left languishing in wards for more than six months because of a lack of suitable step-down care, it emerged last week.

In late November last, in a Tipperary context, HSE figures revealed that Nenagh Hospital had four delayed transfer of patients (DTOC) from the healthcare facility within the previous six months, while Tipperary University Hospital in Clonmel had seven patients in the same boat, with a further patient also in a period of over six months.

Highlighting the issues facing Irish hospitals last week, the Aontú PRO for the Midwest, Eric Nelligan, has received data showing that there were such patients who had been clinically discharged in excess of six months yet remain in hospital. Nationally 599 people are in hospital despite having been discharged by doctors.

Part of the UL Hospital Group, Nenagh was far from the worst affected, with the data showing that University Hospital Limerick has the majority of patients discharged but who are unable to leave, twenty-six patients in UHL have been discharged in the past six months with a further two patients having been discharged over six months ago.

There are also patients in Ennis and St Johns who have been discharged but are unable to leave.

Nationally, just weeks before hospitals suffered recent record overcrowding, the figures showed there were 599 patients who were fit to leave but could not be discharged, and these damning figures for the Government point toward a big contributor to the issues in UHL Limerick in recent weeks.

Commenting last week Mr Nelligan said: ‘’My understanding is that part of the problem here is the lack of home-help hours available due to staffing shortages within that sector.

“I've had personal knowledge of this myself where a family member of mine could not be discharged until the home-help package, for which she qualified, had been put in place.

“In that instance we had to wait as the hospital scrambled to secure hours, liaising with multiple different agencies, and eventually patching together a complicated compilation of agencies in the one package.’’

“The staff shortages are undoubtedly caused by poor pay within the sector, on the part of some agencies. Aontú asked the Department of Health how much the state was paying per hour to private agencies for home help, and they came back to me with a figure of €27.12.

“Clearly some of the private agencies are creaming a significant profit here, while the workers on the frontline are not being paid well. We need complete reform of our healthcare system - the HSE should directly employ home care workers, pay them better than the private companies are paying them, and have one centralised system in the county rather than the current convoluted mess.

“In the long run this would save us money, because the private companies wouldn't be eating a profit from the public purse.

“If we could find a prompt and effective solution to out home-help and respite services, we could ensure that people who have been discharged from hospital are able to physically leave the hospital and go home - achieving this would immediately free up a significant number of beds in the hospitals,’’ Mr Nelligan added.