by Kathy Masterson
UNIVERSITY Hospital Limerick had the third highest number of patients waiting on trolleys of any hospital in the country last month.
Figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) show that 538 patients waited on a trolley for an in-patient bed at UHL in May.
7,713 patients spend time waiting on trolleys in hospitals across the country last month – an increase of 31 per cent on the figures for May 2014, and 83 per cent on May 2006, the year the then Minister for Health declared the crisis a national emergency.
The INMO’s executive council has called for urgent sustained action, including major investment, to address the crisis.
In recent weeks, two elderly women aged over 100 years, one in University Hospital Limerick, were forced to spend more than 24 hours on a trolley awaiting a hospital bed.
The INMO is urging the HSE to take urgent action including weekend discharges, and initiatives to recruit additional nursing staff.
INMO general secretary, Liam Doran commented: “This last week we have seen a new dimension to the crisis in our Emergency Departments when two elderly ladies, both over a hundred years old, had to suffer the indignity of spending more than 24 hours on a trolley awaiting a hospital bed.
“This is a damning indictment of our society and the way we treat our frail elderly citizens and an embarrassment to our members who have to treat patients in these inhumane and unsafe conditions.
“While some investment has been made recently, it is only the tip of the iceberg. The Government needs to take responsibility for this ongoing crisis as we continue to see a deterioration in the figures month on month.”
