Almost 8,000 elderly people were forced to wait more than 24 hours in emergency departments this year, shameful figures show.
The latest stats reveal that 7,700 patients over the age of 75 were left lying on trolleys and chairs across the country.
Sinn Féin health spokeswoman Louise O’Reilly, who slammed the plight of the hospital-goers, insisted the health of older patients is being put at further risk.
The Dublin-Fingal TD said: “Figures released to me by the HSE have shown that in the first six months of the year 7,700 patients over the age of 75 had to wait over 24 hours for treatment in Emergency Departments around the State.
“Limerick University Hospital had the highest number of elderly patients waiting, with 955 in the first half of the year. Galway University Hospital also struggled with 854 waiting and Dublin’s Mater Hospital had 793.
“Older patients are often among the most vulnerable people in our hospitals due to their age and the additional medical needs that can sometimes accompany aging.
“Their being treated urgently prevents escalation of injury and ensures safety and swift treatment.”
Deputy O’Reilly said she is very alarmed by the prospect of the same waiting times impacting on elderly patients during the second half of this year.
She added: “If the next six months go the same way as the first, then 2019 will be the first year ever that over 15,000 older patients have had to wait these excessive times for treatment.
“The staff in our hospitals do an amazing job and they are doing more with less resources; they are treating more patients than ever even though there is a recruitment and retention crisis across all areas of the health service.
“The solution is more capacity, more staff, and the implementation of Sláintecare; however, the government are damaging capital projects across the State due to the children’s hospital overspend, they have implemented a recruitment ban in the health service, and they appear to have no interest in implementing Sláintecare.”
Last month, July figures released by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation showed that 9,439 patients of all ages had no bed in emergency departments.
Compared to last year, there has been an increase of 33%. When records began in 2006, there were 3,460 patients on trolleys in July, just over a third of this month’s figure.
Among the 9,439 patients were 45 children.
The Hospitals with the highest numbers included, University Hospital Limerick: 1,293, Cork University Hospital: 1,079, University Hospital Galway: 707, University Hospital Waterford: 590 and Mater Misericordiae University Hospital: 560.
