ED attendances in the first six months of 2025 resulted in clinicians admitting 203,937 patients for further care
Patients attended the emergency department more than 788,000 times in the first six months of 2025 – an increase of over 16,000 on the same period last year, and 86,000 up on 2023 figures.
Provisonal HSE data show that attendances rose by 12.3 per cent between January and June this year compared to 2023. People aged 75 and older visited an ED 116,884 times in that period, an increase of 19,546 – or 20.1 per cent – on the first six months in 2023.
However, this year’s rises were much more modest when compared to last year. Compared to the first half of 2024, this year’s admissions are up just 2.1 per cent. Health officials will hope this represents a levelling-off in the unprecedented high numbers of patients presenting to EDs since pandemic restrictions ended.
ED attendances in the first six months of 2025 resulted in clinicians admitting 203,937 patients for further care, representing an average conversion rate (the percentage of attending patients who were admitted) of 25.9 per cent.
University Hospital Limerick (UHL) had the highest number of ED attendances, at 46,140 – a nine per cent increase on the first half of last year. Dublin’s Mater Hospital came in second with 43,293, an increase of six per cent.
While Cork University Hospital had the third highest rate of ED attendances (42,982), the figure is down one per cent on the same period last year.
Another Cork facility – the Mercy University Hospital – saw the biggest fall in ED attendances, with its 15,663 visits over the last six months down eight per cent on the first half of 2024.
When it came to admissions, UHL again came out on top with 14,342 (representing a conversion rate of 31.1 per cent). This was followed by CUH with 12,570 (29.2 per cent) and the Mater with 11,725 (27.1 per cent).
Conversion rates across clinical site vary significantly, from 36.5 per cent in St Luke’s Hospital in Kilkenny to just 7.9 per cent in the Tallaght campus of Children’s Health Ireland. Among adult hospitals, Navan had the lowest conversion rate (17.3 per cent).
The figures were highlighted in a recent weekly HSE Urgent and Emergency Care Performance Update, which covers the period up to June 29.
In its recently published corporate plan covering the period 2025-2027, the HSE said it plans to reduce waiting times in EDs with a focus on patients at highest risk.
It outlined that initiatives such as ‘virtual wards’ will be further rolled out across the country, after initially launching two such services in UHL and St Vincents.
The wards work by using remote monitoring technology to provide acute care to patients who would traditionally need a hospital stay.
