Over 5,400 people have died in hospital emergency departments over the past five years, according to new figures.
The data was secured under Freedom of Information requests by the publication for doctors, the Irish Medical Times (IMT).
There were 1,161 deaths in the 22 emergency departments in Ireland last year, lower than the previous year, but higher than the pre-Covid year of 2019.
Along with population growth, the number of patients attending Emergency Departments has been increasing each year and last year there were 1.7 million attendances.
The Health Service Executive said that the high-level data available on emergency department deaths does not distinguish between those who were expected to die, those who suffered sudden catastrophic medical or surgical conditions, those who were victims of trauma and patients who deteriorated unexpectedly in the emergency department.
The FOI data shows that Cork University Hospital (158), St Vincent's University Hospital (105) and Beaumont Hospital (86) had the highest number of deaths in emergency departments last year.
Health officials have said there are a variety of factors around emergency department deaths, including the number and age profile of patients in the catchment area and the severity of their illness.
Cork is also one of the busiest emergency departments in the country.
St Vincent's in Dublin, also serves a catchment area with the highest number of older people and more nursing homes than in any other part of the country.
President of the Irish Association for Emergency Medicine Dr Conor Deasy told the IMT that there are many factors involved, including that the survival rate for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is just 7%.
These patients are brought to the nearest emergency departments, and nursing home residents, who are in the process of dying, are also being brought to an emergency department.
