Waiting times at UHK emergency department more than double since 2015

Waiting times at University Hospital Kerry’s emergency department have more than doubled since 2015.

That’s according to figures provided to Sinn Féin health spokesman David Cullinane by the HSE.

They show that so far this year, patients attending UHK’s emergency department have to wait 14.2 hours on average before being admitted to hospital; that’s up from a wait time of 6.5 hours in 2015.

It’s also a rise when compared to last year when an 11.1 hour wait was recorded for UHK.

Nationally, 13% of patients waited between nine and 12 hours.

Patients attending Tallaght University Hospital have the longest waits in the country – an average of 24.5 hours, while St Luke’s Hospital in Kilkenny has the lowest wait times at only 2.9 hours this year.