More than 70,000 hospital bed days were saved last year through an initiative for dealing with acute patients, the Department of Health said yesterday.
The department aims to free up 1,300 beds (or half a million bed days) within three years under the programme, officials said. Such beds can then be used for the other patients such as those undergoing surgery.
The scheme has so far been introduced in 18 hospitals and will be introduced in 32 hospitals by the end of next year. The programme moves non-surgical patients from emergency departments to acute medical units designed for rapid diagnosis and treatment.
The initiative was a "re-engineering" of the hospital service and particularly the acute medical side which uses half of beds, Dr Orlaith O'Reilly, director of public health with the Health Service Executive, said.
