ALMOST 1,500 patients were without a bed at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) in the month of February, making it the most overcrowded hospital in the country.
With 1,498 patients waiting for beds on trolleys in corridors and public areas, UHL had almost twice the the level of overcrowding as Cork University Hospital which had 807 patients waiting for beds.
INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said nurses and midwives are under severe pressure, dealing with huge numbers of Covid and non-Covid patients presenting at emergency departments with inadequate staffing levels.
“We are once again back in the bad old days of hospital overcrowding, with numbers of patients on trolleys now exceeding pre-pandemic levels,” Ms Ní Sheaghdha added.
“The INMO has been sounding the alarm on this situation for too long. Our members are sick of apologising for the state of our health service to patients who have been waiting an unacceptable amount of time to be treated.
“Bespoke plans to tackle overcrowding in each individual hospital are now badly needed.
“We know that if a patient is on a trolley for more than five hours, it can have a significant knock-on impact on their health and indeed their mortality. It is extremely disappointing that the HSE has not prioritised convening the Emergency Department Taskforce despite numerous requests.
“The INMO looks forward to presenting these issues at the Oireachtas Health Committee on March 9. It is very important that political system gets a real grasp of this country-wide problem that exists within our health service,” she concluded.
