HSE misses targets on hospital admissions and waiting lists for treatments
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Just over one-third of over-75s admitted to an emergency department last year were discharged or admitted within six hours of registering at a hospital.
The HSE has a target of 95% of such patients being discharged within that window.
That is according to the HSE’s national scorecard for last year, which measures its performance against targets outlined in its National Service Plan 2023, and published in its latest annual report.
Similarly, against a target of zero, it said 1,266 people had to wait more than four weeks for access to an urgent colonoscopy last year, while it also missed targets on therapy waiting lists across a range of areas including speech and language therapy, psychology, and physiotherapy.
The figures in the HSE’s national scorecard on waiting times for procedures show it failing to meet the target of 90% for inpatient adults waiting less than nine months for an elective procedure, at just 73.6% of cases, with the same figure for children at 63.6%.
In terms of cancer treatment, the HSE has a target that 90% of patients would undergo radical radiotherapy treatment within 15 days of being deemed ready by an oncologist. Just 63.1% of patients did so.
It did exceed targets in some areas, however, with 92.8% of urgent referrals to Child and Adolescent Mental Health teams responded to within three days. Furthermore, the number of smokers who received online cessation support services stood at 7,798 against a target of 6,000.
It comes as the HSE appears on a collision course with unions, after a meeting on its new recruitment strategy on Thursday led to accusations there was “no trust remaining between management and healthcare staff”, and that there are “significant concerns” among staff about patient safety.
The group of Ictu healthcare unions accused the HSE of breaching the law by implementing its new pay and numbers strategy “without engagement” and that the plan would suppress 2,000 posts, placing an "already-overburdened workforce" into an "intolerable position"
“The decision to suppress previously approved posts from the health service will result in services ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’ to meet service challenges,” Siptu’s health division head Kevin Figgis said.
The unions added they had told the HSE they are now “in dispute” and would consult with members over the next steps.
In response, the HSE said the finalisation of its pay and numbers strategy ensured posts were filled by December 31, 2023, and a further 3,300 posts provided for in its National Service Plan for this year are now secured.
“The HSE is not in breach of its legislative requirements regarding consultation,” it said.
“We are engaged with the staff side in the same way he have done over many years in disseminating information. We at all times advised the unions that as soon as the PNS was finalised we would update them on all aspects of it. We have done that.”