The Government has been heavily criticised for not funding additional step-down beds, after an 85-year-old acutely ill nursing home resident was forced to travel to four Dublin hospitals before being admitted.
The elderly patient spent two hours travelling in an ambulance to different hospitals before finally being admitted by Tallaght.
Beaumont Hospital was closed to admissions and the Mater was also unable to admit, as there was a nine-hour wait.
The patient then arrived at St James’s Hospital and was again refused admission. The ambulance crew continued to Tallaght Hospital, where the patient spent the night on a trolley.
There are between 400 and 500 acute hospital beds being used by non-acute patients awaiting discharge to nursing homes.
“With the per-week cost of an acute hospital bed estimated at €7,000 to €8,000, and a nursing-home bed at between €1,000 and €1,300, this is clearly an area where the Government could immediately make savings of up to €2.4 million per week, while making acute beds available for patients who really need them,” explained Tadhg Daly, CEO of Nursing Homes Ireland.
About Gary Culliton
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