Long waits and poor performance at Drogheda emergency department, watchdog finds

Long wait times and a “poorly” performing emergency department were reported at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, an inspection by the Health Information and Quality Authority has found.
The report, published by Hiqa on Wednesday, found the hospital’s emergency department attendance had increased by 7 per cent since last year and demand “exceeded inpatient and emergency department capacity”.
This resulted in “long waits for medical reviews and patients accommodated in the emergency department”, the report found.
At an unannounced inspection, Hiqa found 87 patients registered in the department at 11am, 19 of whom were admitted “but still in the department while awaiting an inpatient bed in the hospital”.
Six patients were accommodated on trolleys outside designated bays and four were accommodated on chairs.
The average duration of time a patient spent in the hospital’s emergency department year to date 2024 was 9½ hours. This was the second highest of all similar hospitals.
The hospital’s emergency department had “performed poorly” in comparison with other hospitals for “24-hour breaches for all attendees and nine-hour breaches for people 75 years of age and over”.
The inspection was one of seven routine inspections carried out by Hiqa at healthcare services across the country, including Wexford General Hospital, St Luke’s General Hospital Kilkenny, Mercy University Hospital, University Hospital Galway, University Hospital Waterford, and Our Lady’s Hospice and Care Services, Harold’s Cross.
Overall, inspectors found hospitals to be compliant or substantially compliant with most standards.
At an unannounced inspection of Wexford General Hospital, inspectors found the hospital to be compliant or substantially compliant with eight national standards, partially compliant with two national standards and non-compliant with one national standard.
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Non-compliance was found in relation to management of nursing resources as there was an inadequate staffing of nurses in the special care baby unit.
At St Luke’s General Hospital in Co Kilkenny, patients were “generally complimentary” of the care received in the emergency department and the hospital was compliant with 10 national standards and partially compliant with one.
Areas for improvement identified by Hiqa at Mercy University Hospital included “ensuring that the physical environment of all areas fully supports the delivery of high-quality, safe, reliable care”.
The hospital had systems in place to monitor and improve its services, however, improvements were “not always implemented when standards fell below acceptable levels”.