'Chaos' as union confirms highest number of patients on trolleys since pandemic began
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A union has called on the Minister for Health to declare a national emergency due to the trolley crisis in Irish hospitals.
The Irish Nurses & Midwives Organisation (INMO) confirmed that 660 patients are without a bed in hospitals today.
It is the highest number of patients on trolleys since the beginning of the pandemic.
"We have seen a 15% increase of patients on trolleys in the last 24 hours with 660 patients for whom there are no beds," said INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha.
"The Minister for Health needs to intervene and declare this trolley chaos for what it is - a national emergency.
"A range of measures must be taken now in the short to medium term including the curtailment of all non-emergency, elective care and the reintroduction of mask-wearing in crowded and indoor settings."
University Hospital Limerick is the worst-hit hospital today with 84 patients on trolleys, followed by Letterkenny University Hospital with 61.
It comes as the number of people being hospitalised with Covid-19 has reached the highest level since February 2021. As of Monday, 1,308 people were in hospital with the virus.
Ms Ní Sheaghdha said that nurses and midwives are exhausted and burnt out.
"As of this morning, 7,753 patients have been without a bed in our hospitals since the mask requirement was dropped on February 28," she said.
"ESRI research published today shows that two-thirds of people are still wearing masks on public transport and when shopping. If we could increase this number through a re-introduction of mask-wearing, it would help ease transmission numbers.
"Our nurses and midwives are burnt out and exhausted. We can’t expect them to be able to provide safe care in environments that are overcrowded while dealing with a highly transmissible airborne virus."
Ms Ní Sheaghdha earlier repeated calls for the reintroduction of mandatory mask-wearing in indoor settings.
Hospitals were always under pressure after a bank holiday weekend, she told RTÉ radio and when combined with the high levels of Covid-19 in the community this was a “very unsafe situation”.
It comes as almost 64,000 Covid cases recorded over the St Patrick's Day weekend.