Nurses’ union says 2023 is worst year on record for hospital overcrowding

More patients have been admitted to hospitals without having a bed over the course of 2023 than in any year since the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) started to monitor the numbers in 2006, the union has said.

The INMO figures, specifically compiled from a snapshot of the number of patients on trolleys in hospitals around the country at a particular time each day, show a fractional increase on last year’s record figures, a 3 per cent rise when compared to 2019, the last year before the figures were affected by Covid-19, and a more than doubling of numbers since the union commenced its “trolley watch” count 17 years ago.

“For the second year in a row we have broken overcrowding records,” said INMO general secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha on Tuesday.

“The year is not even over and 121,526 patients have been admitted to hospital without a bed. Over 3,450 children have been on trolleys so far this year, an increase of 24 per cent on the previous year. This is not something to celebrate, and was entirely predictable.”

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The HSE disputed that the figures provide an accurate reflection of the situation in hospitals, which, it said on Tuesday, had improved over the course of 2023.

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“The trolley numbers have been far too high, though suggestions that this year has seen the highest number on record are not correct,” it said. “This year has seen some improvement on the position over last year and we intend to pursue that continuously in the coming weeks.”

It nevertheless apologised to those affected, saying it hoped to make improvements, and would provide detailed data on a daily basis itself in future.

In the figures published by the INMO, University Hospital Limerick had the highest numbers of patients on trolleys for the year by quite some distance, with a total of 21,141, up from 18,028 a year ago.

The equivalent figure at Cork University Hospital was the next highest, at 12,487, an increase of 48 on the number for 2022.

The highest figure for the Dublin area was 6,555 at St Vincent’s hospital, down about 1,000 on the previous 12-month period. St Luke’s in Kilkenny, University Hospital Galway and Letterkenny University Hospital were among the other locations at which there was a reduction in year-on-year totals.

[ ‘Truly shocking’: Almost 750 people waiting on a hospital trolley including 32 children ]

Overall the increase across the country was marginal, with 121,318 having been recorded in 2022, but the latest figure is 118 per cent of what it was at the end of the first year of an exercise that was prompted at the time by a Government commitment that waiting on trolleys in emergency departments was to become a thing of the past.

Ms Ní Sheaghadha said nurses were still waiting for a plan that would address the situation, but had instead seen a freeze in hiring across a range of roles in the health service.

“What will it take for the HSE and Government to act? The independent agency Hiqa last week stated that in over 80 per cent of the hospitals they have inspected, patient dignity was compromised and that workforce planning must be prioritised.”

Responding on the staffing issue, the HSE said it had “a net increase in nurses of over 2,000 for the year to date and over 7,500 since January 2020. In terms of the recruitment pause, we have committed to recruiting all nurse and midwifery graduates in 2023.

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“The HSE workforce is at its highest since 2006, which is good news for the public and staff throughout the country and reflects an expanding health service. In 2024 we will add further to that for specific developments and targeting both unscheduled care and waiting lists. We must equally operate within a more appropriate control environment,” it said.

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