Ambulances held-up due to E.D. hand-over delays

Ambulances are being delayed by up to an hour before they respond to an emergency call as they must hand-over patients in busy emergency departments. 

According to the Irish Times, the vast majority of Irish hospitals are not meeting the H.S.E’s requirement of twenty minutes to hand-over patients, return the trolleys, and go out for another call.

Shockingly, just four out of twenty six hospitals have meet the minimum requirement of turning around 50% of ambulances in twenty minutes.

Letterkenny University Hospital usually meets this minimum requirement 10%-20% of the time, meaning longer waits for patients.

Figures released by Fianna Fáil health spokesperson Billy Kelleher shows that nationally, over 1,100 people wait over an hour for an ambulance due to emergency department hold-ups.