Over 70% of A-and-E patients were waiting more than six hours to get admitted to hospital, according to a new HSE and HIQA survey.
It comes as the INMO recorded its highest ever trolley figure in a single hospital last week, when 126 patients were waiting for a bed at University Hospital Limerick.
More than 10,000 people shared their experience of Irish Hospitals with the HSE and HIQAs annual Inpatient Survey.
It found 4 percent of patients were waiting more than 48 hours in A and E, waiting to be admitted.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly says individual action plans are being drawn up for each hospital.
"We are putting in place, not just a national plan for emergency departments, but to go hospital-by-hospital to identify what the challenges are and what extra supports are needed."
Meanwhile more than 1 in 3 patients left hospital with medication and weren’t informed of its side effects.
HSE Paul Reid wants to see more attention paid to discharging patients:
"I have seen in operation in a number of hospitals the patient discharge lounges and where they are in place, they are really effective."
Another issue was communication. 22 percent of respondents said they did not find a member of staff to talk about their concerns.
Patient Representative Kay Cabell says there’s one solution:
"Listening does seem to be a problem.
"I suppose listening is really two ways, one way is with your ears and the other is with your eyes and seeing how the patient is reacting."
Despite challenges from Covid, the average score for care was 7.5 out of 10.
