FIGURES showing the number of people left waiting on a trolley for an in-hospital bed at University Hospital Limerick across the month of October are down on the same period last year.
That’s according to the latest reports from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), showing 1,876 patients waiting on trolleys at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) in the hospital’s emergency department (ED) or on wards elsewhere in the hospital across the entire month of October.
This figure represents a significant drop from the 2,043 reported by INMO in the UHL ED in October 2023.
The nursing union’s count is taken on weekdays only, and does not include patients admitted during weekends and bank holidays.
Despite the drop, the October trolley figures still stand higher than any other October previous to 2023 at UHL, or indeed any October in any Irish hospital, since INMO records began in 2006.
Trolley figures at UHL outstripped all other hospitals, including acute hospitals in Dublin, in October 2016 and have done so every October since.
When the INMO Trolley Watch count began in 2006, there were just 147 patients in the month of October having to be treated on trolleys while waiting for a bed at UHL after arriving by ambulance or through the emergency department with a serious health issue.
This month, the second most overcrowded hospital, according to the INMO figures, was University Hospital Cork with 1,126 patients on trolleys.
Nationally, INMO reported 10,515 patients waiting on trolleys for a bed across the month.
Reacting to the figures, INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said “the fact that over 10,000 sick people were treated on a trolley this October is a grim indicator for the level of overcrowding we are bound to see over the winter period”.
“Staffing is an issue across all hospitals. Not having a safe number of nursing staff in our emergency departments, inpatient wards, long term care, and community services continues to exacerbate the persistent problem of overcrowding in our hospitals.
“Again this winter, our members are not assured that their safety and that of their patients is a priority.”
The INMO general secretary urged the HSE and government to “protect frontline services by lifting the recruitment embargo immediately and accelerating the hiring process, which has been hindered by the current pay and numbers strategy”.
“These delays now result in nearly 12 months to approve replacements for essential nursing and midwifery posts. Without the safe level of staffing, patients cannot be assured of a safe service, this is avoidable and must be corrected immediately.”
