We publish a weekly urgent and emergency care analysis report every Monday.
The report looks back at the week previous and shows:
- the number of people who went to an emergency department (ED) and who were admitted for care
- year-on-year comparisons of the weekly ED numbers
- average wait times for admission or discharge through the ED
- average weekly number of people on trolleys
- year-on-year comparisons of the weekly trolley numbers
- how many beds were used as part of a hospital's surge capacity
- analysis of the number of patients experiencing a delay in discharge
The report is a weekly analysis and comparison of the figures we publish in our daily urgent and emergency care report.
Weekly summary
Download the report (PDF, 5.26MB, 40 pages)
How to read the report
The report is broken into 4 areas of analysis:
- emergency department (ED) demand
- patient experience time (PET)
- trolleys and surge capacity
- delayed transfer of care
ED demand analysis
We show the number of people this week who:
- went to an ED
- were admitted as a patient through the ED
- are 75 or older and were admitted as a patient
- waited for more than 24 hours to be admitted to an inpatient bed or discharged
View the total weekly figures, how they compare to the same week last year and the numerical and percentage change.
You can also see a comparison to demand on the same week in 2019. We use 2019 as this gives a more accurate comparison than 2020 (due to COVID-19) or 2021 (due to the cyber attack on the HSE).
The figures are also shown in a graph and by hospital.
They are broken down by:
- attendances
- admissions
- conversions - this is the number of people who were admitted after attending ED
We show figures for people aged 16 to 74 and for people age 75 and older.
PET analysis
Patient experience time (PET) shows the number of patients who were:
- admitted to an inpatient bed or discharged within 24 hours of arriving at an ED
- age 75 or older and admitted or discharged within 9 hours of arriving at an ED
- discharged without the need to be admitted within 24 hours of arriving at an ED
Duration in ED
We show the average number of hours a patient spent in a hospital ED.
This is shown by:
- all people who attended ED that week
- people admitted as inpatients through the ED
- people who attended ED but were not admitted as inpatients
The target for each hospital ED is to see each person within 6 hours. We colour code the figures to show if a hospital is within their target.
Admitted
These are people who have been admitted as inpatients through the ED.
We calculate the duration from the time a patient arrives at ED to the time that they are admitted to an inpatient bed or discharged.
Non-admitted
These are people who have attended ED but have been discharged without the need to admit them as inpatients.
We calculate the duration from the time they arrive at ED to the time that they are discharged.
24 hour PET breach
This is the number of people who were in ED for more than 24 hours.
9 hour 75 and older PET breach
This is the percentage of people age 75 and older who were in ED for more than 9 hours.
Trolleys and surge analysis
Use this section to see
- the average weekly trolley count and how it compares to last week and previous years
- the number of surge capacity beds used compared to previous years
We show the figures as they are, and also as a percentage change.
Surge capacity
Surge capacity is the number of beds taken from elsewhere in the hospital to meet ED demand.
When a hospital uses surge capacity, they may cancel some planned admissions.
We report the total surge capacity beds used in the previous week. We compare this to the previous week and against a 6-week average.
Delayed transfer of care analysis
The report shows the total number of:
- patients experiencing a delay in their transfer of care
- days when a bed that could have been available was not due to a delayed transfer
- discharges that week
Delayed transfer of care
A delayed transfer of care is when a patient is ready to leave hospital but is still occupying a bed.
It happens when a patient is waiting to go home or into care elsewhere, but the care or home supports are not in place for them.
The report shows the total number of patients experiencing a delay in their transfer of care. It also compares the figures to the previous week and year.
The figures are broken down further to type:
- A - home support service
- B - residential care support
- C - access to rehabilitation
- D - complex clinical needs
- E - homelessness or housing support or adjustment
- F - legal complexity or Assisted Decision Making Act (ADMA)
- G - non-compliance or non-cooperation with process
- H - COVID-19 related
Bed days lost
Bed days lost is the total number of bed days used by patients who had a delayed transfer of care. These are bed days that would have otherwise been available to another patient.
We show the total number of days lost and break these down by type:
- A - home support service
- B - residential care support
- C - access to rehabilitation
- D - complex clinical needs
- E - homelessness or housing support or adjustment
- F - legal complexity or Assisted Decision Making Act (ADMA)
- G - non-compliance or non-cooperation with process
- H - COVID-19 related
Discharges
We show the total number of patients discharged over the past week.
These are broken down to discharges to:
- their home
- nursing homes
- rehabilitation care
- complex care
- other care facilities
We also record the number of people who have passed away in care each week.