The Health Service Executive (HSE) has said pressure on emergency departments is likely to continue in the weeks ahead as the seasonal surge in demand continues.
Its statement came as figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (IMNO) have shown Tuesday had the highest number of patients on trolleys since records began in 2004.
It said there were 601 people on trolleys in emergency departments or on beds, trolleys or chairs in inpatient wards around the country.
The HSE said its records showed the number of patients waiting for admission fall from 513 to 354 this afternoon.
It said all hospitals have invoked escalation plans which include the opening of additional overflow areas, curtailing non-emergency surgery, providing additional diagnostics and strengthening discharge planning.
“As an immediate result of the implementation of these plans, hospitals today successfully reduced the total number of patients waiting for admission by 30 per cent , from 513 to 354 by 2pm,” a spokeswoman said.
It said a total of €25 million has been provided for delayed discharge patients in 2015 which is being used to provide home care packages and short stay beds for the greater Dublin area where the issue of delayed discharge is most pronounced.
The Irish Association for Emergency Medicine has said it is gravely concerned about the patient safety implications for current emergency department overcrowding.
It said unless steps are urgently taken to move patients from grossly crowded units, “it is inevitable that patients will die and others will have much worse medical outcomes than they should have”.
Alone , the charity that supports older people in need, called on the Government to address the hospital trolley crisis by providing more housing with supports, more nursing home beds and more step down facilities and care in the community in order to free up the acute hospital beds as well as providing appropriate care for older people.
Sean Moynihan, chief executive officer of ALONE the shortage of hospital beds “is a complex issue and there is not one solution to this, but there are a range of solutions that are more economically viable,” he said.
Meanwhile, Siptu has called on the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) to immediately inspect hospitals around the country where patient and staff safety is threatened by severe overcrowding.
Siptu health divisional organiser, Paul Bell, said: “SIPTU members are very concerned that there is no plan to address the worrying trend that has been developing since September of patient safety, dignity and care being threatened by severe overcrowding”.
He added that due to the HSE being unable to confirm that the identified hospitals are safe for both patients and staff the HIQA must investigate urgently