Hospital overcrowding persists as bleak reports emerge of elderly patients waiting 24 hours in undignified settings

Winter viruses are slowly on the wane, but some counties are under pressure as infections add to the strain of clogged hospital emergency departments.

One in three of the 1,274 people diagnosed with flu last week were aged over 65, with 328 hospitalised.

The counties with the highest reported cases of flu were Donegal, Sligo, Westmeath, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon, Offaly, Wexford and Waterford.

Other counties with case figures above the national average rate were Cavan, Kerry and Cork.

There were two flu deaths reported last week, bringing the toll to 23 so far this winter. Covid cases fell to 762, down from 941 the previous week, with the highest rates recorded in Waterford, Donegal, Cavan, Offaly, Kilkenny, Mayo and Cork.

Rates were also high in Westmeath, Limerick, Tipperary and Wexford.

RSV infections have dropped considerably, with 212 cases last week compared to 310 the previous week. The rate was highest in children under the age of one.

Hospitals that managed to keep trolley numbers under reasonable control in the aftermath of Christmas are losing the battle this week as rising numbers of patients and fewer available beds fuel overcrowding.

Stark reports of patients in unsafe and undignified levels of congestion have emerged, with 86 people waiting more than 24 hours for a bed yesterday, including 18 who were over the age of 75.

The emergency department at Cork University Hospital (CUH) was 300pc over capacity yesterday morning.

The hospital said patient attendances this month are 35pc higher than the same period last year, and admissions have increased by 37pc.

Among the over-75s, attendances have risen by 43pc, with the numbers needing to be in a ward spiralling by 57pc.

CUH described the demands as unprecedented. The hospital had 37 patients who were fit for discharge yesterday, but suitable stepdown was not available for them.

University Hospital Limerick had 57 patients on trolleys yesterday, while another 36 were in need of a bed in Galway University Hospital.

Waiting-list patients who needed planned care were again put on hold, with 455 patients having to be taken from trolleys and placed on beds in areas such as assessment units.

Seven children were on trolleys in children’s hospitals – four in Temple Street and three in Crumlin.

Meanwhile, a huge test of the newly-appointed executive officers who will head the six new regional health authorities will be reducing hospital overcrowding.

It is intended that the new authorities will give back more power to local decision making while also breaking the centralised stronghold of the HSE.

Only two of the new regional chiefs, announced yesterday, have been appointed from outside the HSE. They are paid €257,000.

The new regional health authorities were recommended by Sláintecare, and each one covers a number of counties.

The regional chiefs will take up their jobs in March, although one of them, Sandra Broderick, was appointed in recent weeks to the HSE Midwest.

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