There are 541 people on trolleys in emergency departments or on wards waiting for a bed on Tuesday, according to the latest figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO).
The figure includes eight children at the Children’s University Hospital, Temple Street and five at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin.
There are no children on trolleys at the National Children’s Hospital in Tallaght according to the INMO’s figures.
Cork University Hospital has 41 patients waiting on trolleys in the emergency department or on wards waiting for a bed. In Dublin, the largest number waiting for a bed is 31 at St Vincent’s University Hospital.
There are 38 patients waiting for a bed at University Hospital Galway and 36 at Letterkenny General Hospital.
The Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore (35), Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital Drogheda (29) and South Tipperary General Hospital (28) are also badly affected.
The number of patients on trolleys reached a record high of 677 on January 3rd, while numbers have risen since the end of last week, from 473 on Friday to 541 on Tuesday.
The INMO recently launched its paediatric trolley watch, stating that the incidence of children on trolleys in Irish emergency departments has changed from a “very odd occasion” to a “constant” fixture of the health service.
“It is a very traumatic event for any parent and child to have to present at an emergency department in the first place,” said Catherine Sheridan of the INMO’s national children’s nurses section.
“It is not appropriate for children. They should not have to endure the emergency department for prolonged periods which we are finding now. It adds to the trauma.”
