Michael McHale , 2025-04-18 07:30:00
More than 16,000 patients spent over 24 hours in ED in the first three months of 2025
Four-in-ten patients over 75 who attended an ED in the first three months of this year waited more than nine hours before being admitted or discharged.
New provisional HSE data showed that 58.96 per cent of patients in this age group were admitted or discharged from an ED within nine hours between January and March, with this rate varying significantly across hospitals.
In St Luke’s Hospital in Kilkenny, 85 per cent of older patients were processed through ED within nine hours, the highest rate in the country. This was followed by Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise (75.3 per cent) and University Hospital Waterford (71.1 per cent).
In contrast, just 32.9 per cent of patients over 75 in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda were admitted or discharged within nine hours. In Beaumont Hospital this rate was 34.1 per cent, while in Tallaght University Hospital it was 34.3 per cent. Naas General Hospital and Cork University Hospital both had rates below 40 per cent.
In St Luke’s Hospital in Kilkenny, 85 per cent of older patients were processed through ED within nine hours, the highest rate in the country
Looking at admitted patients alone, less than half (49.71 per cent) progressed through ED in under nine hours. In Beaumont, this rate was as low as 13.3 per cent. In a further five hospitals – Naas, Drogheda, Tallaght, St Vincent’s in Dublin and Sligo University Hospital – fewer than one-in-five admitted patients over 75 spent less than nine hours in ED before being taken in for further care.
The figures were highlighted in a recent weekly Urgent and Emergency Care Performance Update, which covered the period up to March 30.
Among patients of all ages in the first three months of the year, the update found that 16,043 spent more than 24 hours in an ED. Of these, 12,305 were admitted for further care.
Drogheda had the highest number of people spending more than 24 hours in its ED, at 1,764. This was followed by Tallaght at 1,624 and Cork at 1,419.
In contrast, Waterford had no patients spending more than 24 hours its ED. Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore had just one patient breach this time, while there were seven patients each spending more than 24 hours the children’s ED in Tallaght and St Luke’s in Kilkenny.
The median time a patient spent in an ED in Ireland in the first three months of the year was 6.23 hours. Duration times in ED were longest in Tallaght, where patients spent an average of 9.4 hours in its emergency setting.
In Beaumont, average ED duration was 8.9 hours, while Naas patients spent an average of 8.3 hours in its ED.
However, St Luke’s patients spent just three hours on average in its ED. Waterford had an average ED duration per patient of 3.7 hours, while patients at the three children’s EDs at Temple Street, Tallaght and Crumlin all spent less than four hours on average in emergency care.