Almost half (47%) of patients who attended the emergency department (ED) at University Hospital Kerry (UHK) last year waited nine hours or more for a medical assessment.
The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) says this falls short of the HSE target that 85% of patients should be admitted or discharged within that time.
The finding is contained in a report following a HIQA inspection in January this year.
Data provided to the health watchdog by the HSE shows nearly 45,000 (>44,701) people attended the emergency department in 2024, up seven per cent (7%) on the previous year.
Almost three-in-every-ten (29.7%; 13,270) were admitted as inpatients.
The HSE target is that 80% of ambulance handovers should be completed within 20 minutes of arrival.
Yet over 90% (91.01%) at University Hospital Kerry last year took longer than 30 minutes.
Inspectors were told pressures were being driven by limited inpatient capacity, too few isolation rooms, a shortage of community beds for older patients, inadequate home supports, and a lack of suitable facilities for some patients under 65.
A lack of suitable discharge places for patients with complex needs and mental health requirements added to the challenges.
In response, several measures were introduced to improve patient flow at UHK last winter.
These included extra inpatient capacity in a private hospital, two additional medical ED consultants at weekends, and a dedicated ED consultant from eight to eight, Monday to Friday.
A Hospital Ambulance Liaison Person (HALP) was put in place seven days a week, an extra triage room was opened during busy periods, and a healthcare assistant trained in phlebotomy and ECG (electrocardiographs) recording was stationed in the ED.
HIQA noted a 26% reduction in ED trolley numbers between 2023 and 2024.
