Patients in Dublin emergency departments faced average wait times of up to 21 hours before being admitted last month, figures show.
Sinn Fein’s health spokesman, David Cullinane, received the figures from the HSE in response to a Parliamentary Question.
Last week Mr Cullinane called on the Government to take a "zero tolerance approach to hospital overcrowding and long emergency department waits".
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He blamed the lengthy wait times on "low hospital capacity, poor management of resources, delayed discharges, low out-of-hours GP coverage and a lack of alternatives in the community."
In April, over 75's in St Vincent's Hospital waited an average of 21.6 hours before being admitted, the longest of all Dublin hospitals.
Meanwhile under 75's in Tallaght University Hospital faced waits of 20.9 hours before being seen.
Here are the average wait times patients under and over 75 faced in Dublin emergency departments last month:
Tallaght University Hospital
- Patients under 75: 20.9 hours
- Patients over 75: 19.3 hours
St James' Hospital
- Patients under 75: 13.5 hours
- Patients over 75: 11.4 hours
Mater Misericordiae University Hospital
- Patients under 75: 12.4 hours
- Patients over 75: 13.7 hours.
St Vincent's University Hospital
- Patients under 75: 17.9 hours
- Patients over 75: 21.6 hours.
Beaumont Hospital
- Patients under 75: 14.9 hours
- Patients over 75: 15.8 hours
Connolly Hospital
- Patients under 75: 10.8 hours
- Patients over 75: 11.3 hours
St Michael's Hospital
- Patients under 75: 5.5 hours
- Patients over 75: 6.3 hours
CHI at Crumlin
- Average wait times were 8.2 hours
CHI at Temple Street
- Average wait times were 11.2 hours
CHI at Tallaght
- Average wait times were 6.6 hours
A spokesman for the HSE told Dublin Live: "A patient’s wait time starts as soon as they walk through the doors of an emergency department and doesn’t end until the patient is either discharged home or admitted to hospital. It therefore does not describe the time a patient is waiting to be seen, but the total time they spend in ED.
"There are many reasons that result in longer wait times such as volume of patients presenting to the Emergency Department and the requirement to prioritise, treat and care for the sickest and older cohort of patients and those with life threatening illnesses. This can mean that patients with less serious illnesses and conditions may need to wait longer for their treatment.
"In 2022,the HSE has experienced an increase in ED attendances with a significant increase in the number of patients aged 75 and over attending EDs with complex care needs and often requiring admission to hospital for further treatment."
The spokesman said that the patient experience can include multiple steps such as "triage, registration, nursing assessment, consultant/registrar (or nurse practitioner) assessment, consultations, investigations (tests), treatments, and decisions to admit patients".
He said "delays in any one of these events or services will increase a patient’s wait time, and can create bottlenecks in the emergency department."
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