Accident and emergency (A&E) services are provided in public hospitals in Ireland. When you attend A&E you are prioritised on the basis of medical need. Patients can either be treated in A&E or admitted to a ward for treatment as an inpatient.

Improving the performance of A&E departments was a key priority for the HSE in 2006. A dedicated A&E team was set up, to tackle the individual issues which affected a core group of 15 or so hospitals within the 35 hospitals who provide accident and emergency services. Some of the measures are aimed at minimising the need for people to go to Accident and Emergency. Others are designed to free up beds in hospital for people awaiting admission

The HSE carried out a survey among people who attended Emergency Departments The patient survey was commissioned by the HSE and carried out by the Irish Society for Quality and Safety in Healthcare, in partnership with the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and Ipsos MORI, Ireland. The survey's primary aim was to capture an impartial national profile of the perceptions people have of their Emergency Department experiences:

Approximately 3,300 patients attend an A&E department daily.

• Of these 800-900 are admitted
• The majority are admitted without delay
• Approximately 10% have to wait to be admitted
• Of those who wait approximately 70% wait less that 12 hours
• Between 2005 and 2006 there has been a rise of 4% in A&E attendances.

• Click here to view Accident and Emergency data
• Health Service Executive Emergency Departments: Patient Profiles, Experiences and Perceptions.pdf (size 717.6 KB)
• Admission Lounges Current Status table.pdf (size 21.4 KB)
• Patient Mapping and Efficiency Review report presents the results of a national review of ten hospitals to identify how the application of best practice could improve the pathway of patients from admission from the emergency department to discharge, maximising the appropriate use of existing acute capacity.
• Click here to link to Dec 2008 Performance Monitoring Report - Emergency Departments Attendances (135.1 KB PDF)
• Click here to link to Feb 2009 Performance Monitoring Report - Emergency Department Activity and Out-of-Hours Surgery article 2008 (53.6KB PDF)
• Link to Review of Emergency Departments and Pre-hospital Emergency Care in Cork and Kerry
  
  
  

Within a relatively short period the HSE will have taken a considerable step in meeting the ongoing requirement to address demographic pressures, improve the quality and availability of extended care facilities and address the inappropriate use of acute hospitals through the development of necessary community facilities.

This work is part of a wider recognition that the development of the quality and availability of capacity in the public and private extended care sectors together with the strengthening of community supports to meet the needs of a greater range of older people in their homes is critical to the successful delivery of health services and will only grow in importance in the years to come.

In 2006 and 2007 funding under the A&E Initiative was made available for the provision of a series of Admission Lounges and Medical Assessment Units to relieve pressure on A&E Departments. The main thrust in 2008 was to fund new A&E Departments or to upgrade or extend existing departments.

Click here for HSE Publications on Hospitals

Click here to link to 100 Plus Rewarding Hospitals with High Performing Emergency Departments

Click here to link to HSE Emergency Departments Page

Click here to link to Emergency Departments Task Force Report

Related Link:

Hospital in the Home Initiative
Consultant Incentivisation Scheme

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