'ED overcrowding no longer acceptable

Emergency medicine consultants have warned that there should be no attempts to manipulate numbers or definitions in an attempt to minimise the extent of overcrowding in our hospital EDs.

Commenting in the wake of the HIQA Tallaght report, the Irish Association of Emergency Medicine (IAEM) said said there should be clear, unambiguous direction from the Government and the HSE that ED overcrowding in Ireland is no longer acceptable.

The IAEM said the commitment must be absolute and ongoing and there should be no attempt to manipulate figures or definitions in an attempt to minimise the extent of the ED overcrowding.

The Association welcomed the Health Minister James Reilly's pledge in the wake of the report that a patients should be either admitted or discharged within six hours of their arrival in the ED on 95% of occasions, and in 100% of cases by nine hours.

The IAEM said until the issue of ED overcrowding is effectively addressed once and for all, thousands more patients will be subject to the misery and risk of trolleys.

[Posted: Tue 29/05/2012]