1,376 bed days ‘lost’ due to delayed discharges at St Luke’s Hospital
THERE has been a total of 1,376 bed days “lost” in the first three months of the year as a result of delayed discharges at St Luke’s General Hospital.
The figures were obtained by Fianna Fáil on foot of a parliamentary question to Health Minister Simon Harris.
Commenting on the figures, Deirdre Cullen, a Fianna Fáil candidate for the Callan-Thomastown electoral area, said the high number of lost bed days in St Luke’s is adding to the pressure on “the entire hospital network”.
She added: “If the current trend continues there will be almost 5,500 lost bed days in 2019. The figures are similarly stark across the country with 52,348 bed days lost in first three months of the year.
“A patient is categorised as a delayed discharge when they no longer require care in an acute hospital setting but have no access to an appropriate step-down care facility.
“The reason they have no access to appropriate step-down care is due to the Government failure to adequately address the problems with the Fair Deal Scheme and properly resource the primary care network.”
Ms Cullen (pictured below) added: “We’re seeing more and more GP’s retire, leaving entire areas without proper cover and people in need of after care. Unless the primary care network is looked after we are going to see a lot more bed days lost across the country.”
