There have been more than 40,000 waiting time breaches in hospitals across the country this year in which patients were left waiting over 24 hours, a new report reveals.

A total of 40,398 patients were left waiting over 24 hours for admission to hospital between January and August, an increase of 132% on the same period in 2021. The HSE report, presented yesterday to the Emergency Department Taskforce, said the average daily trolley count during this period was 316.

On Monday, 485 admitted patients were waiting for beds, according to the INMO Trolley Watch, including 395 waiting in the emergency department, while 90 were in wards elsewhere.

The president of the Irish Association for Emergency Medicine, Dr Fergal Hickey, explained that the patients waiting over 24 hours for admission had already been treated in emergency departments and were waiting to be moved to a hospital ward, leading to a backlog.

'Because they remain in the emergency departments, they completely negate the emergency department's capacity to act as an emergency department, so we can't deal with the next group of incoming patients,' he said.

Sinn Féin health spokesperson David Cullinane said there should be less focus on one-off 'winter plans', and instead, multi-annual planning and investment to tackle challenges in healthcare are needed.

A HSE spokeswoman said: 'A range of initiatives are already being implemented as part of the National Service Plan to alleviate pressures in emergency care. These include additional capacity in terms of beds, staffing and strengthening Community Care Teams.'

She said the HSE has been working on a winter plan over the last few months to deal with the challenges expected, including detailed vaccination plans.

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