Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

Last year, hospital emergency departments treated 1.15 million people, of which 368,000 were admitted to hospital. In 2005 the average number of patients on trolleys awaiting admission each day was 259. The average to date in 2009 is down to 141, and figures to date in May show a further reduction to 116. Data collected by the HSE over recent months indicates that the vast majority of those patients requiring admission are transferred to the ward areas without undue delay.

We need to continue to reduce waiting times for all patients presenting as emergencies to our hospitals. With this in mind, the HSE has set a lower waiting time target of six hours for all patients in its 2009 service plan. The aim is that all patients, irrespective of whether they are admitted or not, will be assessed, treated and discharged or admitted within six hours of arrival.

The HSE is working to measure and report on the time it takes to manage each patient's care from the point of arrival in the emergency department until they are discharged or admitted. As an interim measure, a sampling approach is being adopted at a selected time period each day, which involves collecting registration, admission and discharge data from emergency departments at all hospitals, either electronically or manually.

Preliminary results from the HSE's performance monitoring reports for March 2009 for a sample of 19 hospitals indicate that of all patients who did not require admission, 92% were seen and discharged within six hours. Approximately one third of patients who attend emergency departments are admitted to hospital. Currently, almost half of these patients are admitted to the ward within the new maximum target time of six hours. The challenge for hospitals is to ensure this new target is reached for all patients.

I am confident the introduction of the fair deal in September this year will have a positive impact on the number of patients in hospital whose discharge has been delayed. As a result of the introduction of the new scheme, nursing home care will be more affordable and acute beds will be freed up for acute patients.

There have been significant improvements and we will continue to work for more progress by reducing inappropriate admissions, reducing average length of stay and moving activity from inpatient to day case procedures. These measures will be essential in further improving the experience for patients attending emergency departments.

See this speech in context