Last year tens of thousands of people in Ireland left A&E departments without receiving treatment.
As reported by the Irish Examiner, over 75,000 patients left emergency departments while waiting for treatment, including at least 3,400 children.
These figures are likely even higher due to months of data being unavailable due to the HSE cyberattack.
Speaking to the Examiner, one HSE spokesman said that it was not always possible to see all patients quickly.
“It is inevitable that EDs and their associated hospitals, whose capacity is exceeded by such demand, must clinically prioritise those who must be treated first and those who may need to wait, or attend a more appropriate care setting,” the spokesman reportedly said.
“Ideally, hospitals would be in a position to treat patients on their arrival. However, as demand inevitably overtakes capacity, prioritisation and consequential waiting may occur. In this regard, some patients with less serious needs may choose to avail of alternatives options.”
The official estimate of how many people die annually in Ireland from A&E delays is around 360 per year. However, as reported by the Journal.ie, this may be a “significant underestimate.”
The Emergency Medicine Journal in the UK recently discovered that morality significantly increases following Emergency Department delays of more than 5 hours.
According to HIQA’s National Inpatient Experience Survey 2019, only 30% of patients report being admitted for treatment within six hours, with 70% – the vast majority – waiting longer.
Some patients wait inordinate amount of time, with 4% saying they waited 48 hours or more for treatment.