82% drop in patients waiting over 12 months for procedure

WAITING times for daycase procedures have seen a “significant reduction”, according to Tallaght University Hospital (TUH).

TUH’s annual report for 2022, reveals there was an 82 per cent reduction in the number of patients waiting longer than 12 months for a daycase procedure.

Overall this particular waiting list fell from 262 in January 2022 to 48 in December 2022 – primarily as a result of the hospital opening its new Reeves Day Surgery Centre, which is located across the road from the main campus at Tallaght Cross West.

Other waiting list improvements according to TUH’s report include a 35 per cent reduction in the number of patients waiting longer than 12 months for an inpatient procedure. This fell from 344 in January 2022 to 225 in December 2022.

The report says 272,869 patients attended an outpatient appointment in 2022, up 8 per cent from 2019.

The number of patients waiting more than four years for a new outpatient appointment was reduced from 1,605 at the beginning of 2022 to 1,300 at the end of the year, a 19 per cent reduction.

The annual report also notes the brand new intensive care wing of the hospital opened “on time and on budget in late August 2022.”

TUH CEO Lucy Nugent acknowledged the challenges of the pandemic, but also cited “tremendous growth” for the hospital.

“12 brand new state-of-the-art ICU beds were opened while the Reeves Day Surgery Centre has enabled us to dramatically reduce waiting times. This TUH day surgery model has proven so successful the government have announced plans to replicate it, at other hospitals around the country,” said Ms Nugent.

Plans have also been approved for a new Women’s Health Unit, which will provide a suite of services to Gynaecology patients including pelvic ultrasound, diagnostic hysteroscopy, and endometrial biopsy. The unit will also provide a complete Colposcopy service. The additional space will enable the hospital to have an additional 3,000 outpatient appointments per year.

Other key findings, include admissions via the Emergency Department (ED) was up 6 per cent (an additional 851 patients).

Admissions of patients presenting to ED over the age of 75 was up by 19 per cent.

The number of patients medically fit for discharge but awaiting a bed in a suitable community facility or waiting on a home care package ranged from 40–63 patients throughout 2022. This was predominantly a result of ongoing challenges in the community in relation to resourcing homecare packages.

Ongoing requirement for single rooms for patients with covid and other infectious conditions continues to place upward pressure on beds.

Liam Dowdall, Chairman of TUH acknowledged the efforts by management and staff to reduce waiting times for patients in both scheduled and unscheduled care.

“Whilst so much has been achieved with the opening of the Reeves Day Surgery Centre and moving a number of clinics into the community, the level of inpatient care we can provide continues to be restricted by both the size of our footprint and community supports.

“I look forward to seeing real progress being made in 2023 in the development of additional bed capacity and greater capacity in community supports for patients. As the number of patients and their acuity increases and is forecasted to continually increase for years to come this is becoming increasingly urgent.”

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