The Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) has identified long patient waiting times and a subpar emergency department at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. The watchdog agency’s Wednesday report indicated that the hospital’s emergency department has seen a 7% rise in patient footfall compared to last year, resulting in it surpassing its inpatient and emergency department capacities.
This high demand led to extensive periods of waiting for medical reviews and patient accommodation in the emergency department. The unannounced inspection by Hiqa saw 87 patients registered in the department at 11 am, with 19 admitted patients still waiting to secure inpatient beds in the hospital.
The ageing population has had its impact on the health conditions in Ireland where a clinical director was put on leave due to posing ‘serious risk’ to patients at a hospital in Limerick following the death of a patient named Aoife Johnston. Another man passed away after waiting 11 hours for medical aid in Tallaght Hospital ED, according to an inquest. Teenager Aoife Johnston’s ‘preventable’ death has spotlighted the ‘risk of recurrence’ at UHL.
Moreover, the emergency department statistics revealed that six patients were accommodate on trolleys outside their assigned bays and four were relegated to chairs. The average time a patient spent in the hospital’s emergency department in 2024 was about 9.5 hours, the second highest of similar hospitals.
Our Lady of Lourdes’ emergency department was found to be underperforming compared to other hospitals specifically regarding ’24 hour breaches for all attendees and nine-hour breaches for people 75 years of age and over.’
Hiqa conducted seven routine inspections in different health services across the country, including hospitals in Wexford, Kilkenny, Mercy University, University Hospital Galway, University Hospital Waterford, and Harold’s Cross’s Our Lady’s Hospice and Care Services.
Despite the issues at Our Lady of Lourdes, Hiqa confirmed that most hospitals met or made substantial effort to meet standards. The surprise inspection at Wexford General Hospital, revealed the hospital to be strongly or somewhat adhering to eight national standards, slightly adhering to two and violating one.
The original text reveals non-adherence in the management of nursing resources due to insufficient staffing of nurses in the specialised baby care unit. Furthermore, the patients at St Luke’s General Hospital in County Kilkenny generally praised the care delivered in the emergency department. The hospital was in line with 10 national standards and was partially on track with another.
Nevertheless, Hiqa identified rooms for enhancement at Mercy University Hospital, specifically the requirement for the physical areas to completely back the execution of high-quality, safe, and reliable care. While the hospital maintained systems to keep an eye on and progress its services, improvements were not consistently applied when the standards diminished beneath acceptable extents.