Targets set for the average numbers of patients on trolleys in hospital sound like an admission of defeat, by the Health Service Executive, according to the General Secretary of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.
The HSE set a new emergency department target for the average monthly trolley count in hospitals not to exceed 320 patients waiting for admission at 8am each morning.
It has also said that no patient aged over 75 will wait more than 24 hours in an emergency department.
The targets are set out in the HSE's Urgent and Emergency Care Operational Plan to deal with the oncoming autumn and winter period.
The plan says that the total number of patients in hospitals with a delayed transfer of care must not exceed 440 a week.
These are patients whose acute clinical care has ended, but they continue to occupy a hospital bed as there nowhere for them to be transferred to.
INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said the latest targets are an admission that the HSE are going to be dealing with overcrowding for a long time.
No patient should be waiting over six hours for admission to a bed, she said, but added that today there are eight hospitals that exceed the HSE target.
Ms Ní Sheaghdha said that any patient on a trolley longer than six hours does not have the same positive experience or good outcome as those waiting less that this period.
Under the plan, all patients will have a predicted date of discharge when they are admitted to a hospital.
There will also be a review of all patients each week who have a length of stay longer than 14 days.
The target under this plan is that the average length of stay for patients over 14 days in hospital does not exceed 28 days.
Hospitals will have specific weekly discharge targets with the aim of having patients discharged before 11am.
The plan commits to providing an extra 182 extra acute hospital beds and 28 critical care beds by the end of the year.
An extra 27 community beds are to be provided by the end of the year.
Extra capacity is also to be provided through the voluntary and private ambulance services.
Among the measures to help patients avoid the need to attend hospitals will be expanded hours for injury units and expanding mobile X-ray services to the southeast, Galway, Mayo and Roscommon.
The plan acknowledges that the key performance indicators for urgent and emergency care in the document remain below those established as part of the HSE National Service Plan.
Meanwhile, the INMO said that as of this morning there were 447 admitted patients waiting for a bed in hospitals around the country.
It said there were 338 patients waiting in emergency departments, with 109 on wards.
The INMO Trolley Watch figures show that University Hospital Limerick was the worst affected with 82 patients waiting, with 63 at Cork University Hospital and 59 at University Hospital Galway.
There were seven admitted patients aged under 16 waiting for a bed at two children's hospitals - two at CHI Crumlin and five at CHI Temple Street.
