Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 19 May 2026
1211. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health if she is aware that delayed discharges caused over 145,000 lost bed days in 2025; the specific measures that are being put in place to reduce this figure; whether targets have been set for reduction; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37652/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraBed days lost within the hospital may arise when people are medically fit to leave hospital, but other factors are preventing the transfer of their care. Delayed discharge is driven by a range of factors, including the complexity of patients’ needs, the requirement for appropriate step-down or community supports, and capacity constraints in both acute and non-acute settings and these factors vary across the regions.
To the end of April this year our Emergency Departments have seen a 7% increase in attendances and a 5% increase in the number of patients waiting on Trolleys when compared to the same period last year.
This increase included a significant rise in presentations from older adults, with nearly 8,600 additional patients aged 75 years and over, placing further pressure on acute bed capacity and patient flow.
This rise in older adult presentations results in higher admission rates and longer lengths of stay.
Timely discharge is critical to maintaining patient flow and the efficient and effective utilisation of inpatient resources. We are investing in enhanced discharge planning, community supports, and step-down facilities to ensure patients can leave acute hospital settings safely and promptly.
Addressing delayed transfers of care is a core priority for my department and the HSE. The HSE are taking a whole-system approach to reducing the high levels of delayed transfers of care.
Under the National Service Plan 2026, the HSE has committed to a focused programme of actions aimed at alleviating discharge delays and ensuring patients receive care in the most appropriate setting. This includes:
• The delivery of 428 additional community beds and 177 additional acute beds nationally in 2026, with a particular emphasis on step-down, rehabilitation and older persons’ care, which are critical to reducing delayed transfers from acute hospitals.
• The expansion of Enhanced Community Care (ECC) teams across all Health Regions. These multidisciplinary teams support earlier discharge from hospital, deliver care closer to home, and reduce the risk of patients remaining in acute beds once medically fit for discharge.
• Extended service availability in the evenings and at weekends, including access to discharge planning, community supports and decision-makers, to address avoidable non-clinical delays to discharge.
• The expansion of alternatives to acute admission, which helps reduce pressure on inpatient beds. Virtual Wards are now operational or progressing in every region, navigation hubs are being developed, and frailty-at-the-front-door services such as EDITH are reducing avoidable admissions for older people.
• The SAFER bundle and the Plan for Every Patient are in place across most sites, supported by 7-day and 14-day length-of-stay reviews and strengthened operational huddles.
The HSE has recently published a Length of Stay Optimisation Guideline, which provides practical, evidence-based tools to support earlier, safe discharge and improved patient flow across hospital and community services.
The Department of Health, alongside the HSE, is developing a new Long-Term Residential Care Additional Capacity Plan, which will address public nursing home beds capacity and include dementia specific provisions, as committed to in the Programme for Government.
Reducing delayed discharges and associated bed days is a clear objective of these actions. The HSE has set a target of reducing Delayed Transfers of Care to 300 nationally, and is working to achieve a sustained reduction in 2026 through this whole-system approach. Performance in this area is being actively monitored at national and regional level.
I will continue to work closely with the HSE to ensure that these measures are implemented at pace and that we see measurable reductions in delayed discharges and improved access to care for patients.
