Hospital overcrowding at highest point since start of pandemic – INMO

Overcrowding in the country's hospitals has reached its highest point since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO).

There were 381 patients on trolleys on Monday morning, it said.

Cork University Hospital had the highest number of patients on trolleys with 47, followed by University Hospital Limerick (41) and University Hospital Galway (39).

There was one patient on a trolley at Temple Street Children’s University Hospital.

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INMO general secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said the health service is “rapidly swinging from a Covid crisis back into an overcrowding crisis”.

“The HSE said at the start of the pandemic that overcrowding would not be tolerated, but it has been on the rise consistently in recent months,” she said.

“Our members cannot withstand the pressures of overcrowding twinned with the pressure of another wave of Covid.”

Ms Ní Sheaghdha said if the current trajectory continues, patients and staff will find themselves “in a dire situation”.

“The HSE need a laser-like focus on hospitals to get overcrowding figures down. That means scaling back services in badly hit hospitals, taking on extra capacity from private hospitals, and supporting GPs to return to their normal clinical work,” she added.

The INMO said the second highest figure of patients on trolleys during the pandemic was 376 on May 11th, 2021.