70,000 left EDs before full treatment in seven months
New data reveals that over 70,000 patients left Irish emergency departments before receiving treatment in the first seven months of the year. The figures highlight systemic overcrowding and staffing shortages within the health service.
Why it matters
High rates of patients leaving emergency care indicate a critical failure in healthcare accessibility and hospital capacity.
More than 70,100 people did not wait, or left before completing their treatment, in emergency departments during the first seven months of this year, new figures show.
The issue was most prominent at the Mater and St James's hospitals in Dublin.
There were also 31,821 patients who waited longer than 24 hours to be admitted, or discharged, in emergency departments.
The data was obtained from the HSE under a parliamentary question, submitted by chairperson of the Oireachtas Committee on Health, Social Democrats TD Pádraig Rice.
It showed that the average waiting time in emergency departments for patients between January and July was 9.3 hours.
The Dublin South East Region performed best, with over 67% of patients admitted or discharged in six hours.
However, in Dublin north east and in the south west, just over 49% of patients were admitted or discharged within six hours.
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