HSE WAY OFF ITS TROLLEY TARGET

Daily target of 236 missed, Over-75s care falls far short

- KEN FOXE

THE HSE was way off targets it set for emergency departments including the length of time spent in A&E, the numbers on trolleys, delays in treating over-75s and handover from ambulances.

In a board strategic scorecard, unscheduled care was given a rating of just one out of five with "significant concerns" targets were again not going to be met this year.

Figures, shared with Health Minister Stephen Donnelly in April, showed a daily target of 236 patients on trolleys in A&Es but the actual figure was 352 in January and 326 in February.

Another aim of having 97% of patients gone from the emergency department within 24 hours was also missed, the records showed.

Instead, in January 5.3% of patients were at least a day in A&E while in February, that number had fallen only slightly to 5% of patients.

The HSE had also aimed to have 99% of patients over the age of 75 discharged or admitted within nine hours of having turned up at hospital.