Nurses say 80 patients waiting for bed at University Hospital Limerick

Eighty patients deemed to required admission are waiting for a bed at University Hospital Limerick on Wednesday, nurses have said.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) said more than 12 patients were cared for on chairs in the hospital "without even a trolley".

The union said this was the highest figures for overcrowding in an Irish hospital since the Covid-19 restrictions were put in place.

The INMO urged the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly to intervene and appoint immediately an external crisis management team to oversee governance at the hospital. The INMO said such a management team would set out a clear plan to open additional bed capacity and recruit staff to fill vacancies, manage hospital activity within available bed capacity, and engage with trade unions to address the industrial relations difficulties on site.

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The union warned that the HSE’s stated “no tolerance” policy for overcrowding during Covid “was clearly being broken, along with social distancing guidelines, placing staff and patients at risk”.

The INMO said that across the country there were 277 patients deemed to require admission were without beds.

It said the worst-affected hospitals were:
–University Hospital Limerick: 80
–Sligo University Hospital: 35
–Mayo University Hospital: 23

INMO industrial relations officer for Limerick, Mary Fogarty, said:

“The hospital is in a chronic state of overcrowding this morning. There are admitted patients on chairs – as there aren’t even enough trolleys anymore.

“This would be an exceptionally high level of overcrowding in normal times. With Covid, the infection risk to staff and patients goes through the roof.

“Frontline staff are doing the best they can, but this is a crisis that is not going away in Limerick. Nurses are rightly describing the ongoing situation as dangerous.

“The Minister and HSE cannot stand idly by. They need to intervene nationally to put a clear, workable plan in place.”