'The discharge failures in Cork and Galway are not good enough' - Health Minister takes aim at hospitals slow to clear beds

"Cork University Hospital and Galway University Hospital are the country's worst performers for tackling their trolley crisis and are not discharging enough patients to free up beds, Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has said."

"Patients who no longer needed to be in hospital should not refuse to leave when offered step-down care, even if it is a distance away, because they would be depriving somebody else of a ward bed, the minister added."

Cork University Hospital and Galway University Hospital are the country's worst performers for tackling the trolley crisis and are not discharging enough patients to free up beds. Insufficient discharges are creating bed shortages and prolonging waits on trolleys in emergency departments. Patients who no longer need to be in hospital should accept step-down care offers, even if those options are located some distance away, because refusing would deprive other patients of ward beds. Redirecting patients to step-down facilities can increase bed turnover, alleviate overcrowding, and reduce emergency waiting times.

Read at Independent