Nearly 5,000 hospital bed days lost in Ireland

Nearly 5,000 hospital bed days were lost in 2024 due to delays in discharging homeless patients. The Health Service Executive (HSE) reported that 154 homeless patients contributed to this issue, leading to significant bed shortages. On average, each homeless patient caused about 31.6 bed days to be lost. The majority of these patients, 85 in total, were discharged to emergency shelters. However, delays in arranging these accommodations resulted in 1,835 lost bed days. Additionally, 38 patients were moved to local authorities or voluntary agencies, adding another 947 lost bed days. Specifically, 28 patients were waiting for appropriate housing options from local authorities, leading to 2,046 lost bed days. Three patients identified as foreign nationals caused a further 49 days to be lost. The HSE is actively monitoring these losses and has devised specific strategies to help address them. This includes dedicated teams to ensure prompt discharges from hospitals for patients with complex needs. In Dublin, a new protocol aims to improve health outcomes for the homeless through better discharge planning from hospitals. While the protocol does not directly solve the issue of delayed discharges, it seeks to prevent some of these delays by ensuring well-coordinated transitions from hospitals. Often, services available for discharged patients are already overwhelmed due to rising homelessness and complex cases. A new facility, Usher’s Island, has been opened by the Dublin Simon Community to help tackle the problem. It has 51 beds and aims to reduce hospital demand. Naomi Nicholson, from the community, noted that they receive about 120 referrals monthly, with many stemming from acute hospitals. The facility is meant to shorten hospital stays and alleviate pressure on outpatient services. However, its limited capacity creates challenges, as many patients remain longer than desired while waiting for suitable housing. Once fully operational, the facility could assist 1,200 to 1,400 patients every year, according to the charity.