New system will allow staff to input causes of bed closures

A new HSE reporting system will allow staff to input the cause of bed closures and delayed discharge at individual hospitals, this newspaper has been told.

At last month’s IMO AGM in Killarney, consultant members called for more information to be provided as to why beds are closed in hospitals across the country.

Members of the IMO consultant committee passed a motion that sought weekly statistics on the number of acute hospital beds closed for refurbishment, infection control, and “any and all reasons for such closures in each hospital”.

The motion was proposed by Dr Peadar Gilligan, Consultant in Emergency Medicine, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin. He argued that access to such information at an “individual hospital level” was vital.

He said that in a hospital system “that runs at 97 to 103 per cent occupancy”, and where there can be over 400 beds closed “for refurbishment, or infection control issues, I think it is really important that we as providers are made aware of this”, he said.

“We need to know when [and why] our beds are closed.”

Asked to comment on the motion, a HSE spokesperson told the Medical Independent that it currently reports on the cumulative number of ‘blocked’/closed beds at each hospital at 10am daily.

“However, we do not record a breakdown of the cause of these closures/blockages.”

The spokesperson added the HSE is currently preparing to transition to “a new trolley reporting system” in the coming months.

“When finalised, this new system will enable hospital staff to input further information in relation to causal factors for bed closures/blockages.”