'This is not normal' - Highest number of patients on hospital trolleys in June for 16 years
June Figures Total A Overall Trolley The Day Since The Of Inmo Highest Began Counting 2006 Picture This Figure Month In The Single File Morning's In Recorded Is On
There were 608 patients without beds in Irish hospitals this morning - a 16-year record for a day in June.
According to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), University Hospital Limerick (UHL), which has consistently recorded the highest number of patients waiting on trolleys in recent months, had 98 patients without a bed this morning - 62 in the emergency department (ED) and 36 elsewhere in the hospital.
Cork University Hospital (CUH) recorded the country's second-highest total with 78, all of whom were waiting in its ED. There were a further 43 patients waiting on trolleys in the ED at University Hospital, Galway.
In St Vincent's Hospital in Dublin, 42 patients were waiting for a bed, and at Mater Misericordia University Hospital, 37 patients were on trolleys at the ED. University Hospital Kerry, Sligo University Hospital, and St Luke's General Hospital in Kilkenny each had 27 patients waiting on trolleys.
Just three of the country's hospitals did not record a patient without a bed - Bantry General Hospital, Nenagh General Hospital and Our Lady's Hospital in Navan.
This morning's overall total is the highest figure recorded on a single day in the month of June since the INMO began counting trolley figures in 2006.
INMO General Secretary, Phil Ní Sheaghdha, said the high trolley figures should serve as a warning to the Department of Health and HSE and that unless the problem is addressed now "we are in for a very bleak autumn and winter in our hospitals."
“Every passing day that we allow trolley numbers to continue to rise in summer is an acceptance that chronic overcrowding, sicker patients and burnt out nurses and other healthcare workers are going to be the key features of our health service this winter," she said.
Ms Ní Sheaghdha said hospital emergency departments were "pressure cookers at the moment."
"The fact that Covid cases have increased by over 333% hospitals in the space of three weeks coupled with long wait times to be admitted is a disaster waiting to happen," she said.
She called on the HSE to immediately cancel non-urgent elective care and the reintroduce Covid testing when a patient presents at the ED. “The Emergency Taskforce must immediately convene," she said.
"The HSE and Minister for Health cannot continue to ignore the importance of this body when it comes to tackling the root causes of the chaotic scenes we are seeing in emergency departments across the country.”