PATIENTS ON TROLLEYS AT RECORD HIGH
Hospitals ‘absolutely unsafe’ after 714 in corridors
THE number of patients waiting on hospital trolleys yesterday hit 714 – the highest figure ever recorded.
In one facility alone there were 80 people without a bed in both the emergency room and on wards.
The Irish Nurses & Midwives Organisation, which released the figures, claimed the circumstances in which people are being cared for now is “absolutely unsafe”.
The worst-affected location was University Hospital Limerick where 80 patients were waiting to be allocated a bed.
The next worst was University Hospital Galway where 45 patients were on trolleys while 43 were waiting at Cork University Hospital.
INMO general secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha said the numbers currently in corridors “would fill a large Irish hospital”.
She added: “The volume of patients is too high to give proper, correct and humane care. That is no longer possible.”
In Dublin, the worst-affected hospital was Tallaght, where there were 40 patients on trolleys.
The overcrowding crisis has now spread to the children’s facilities – Temple Street and Crumlin – where there were 15 patients without beds.
The worst flu outbreak in years is being blamed for the record figures but the INMO have been warning hospitals are simply not able to cope with the numbers seeking treatment.
The figures from last week showed overcrowding exceeded 600 patients each day.
However, Ms Ni Sheaghdha told RTE Radio’s News At One claims it is down to flu is “an excuse”. She added:
“The HSE used this, then the storm, when what they should be looking at is planning. “I visited a busy A&E last Thursday at CUH – there’s little more they can do.
“Their attendance levels are high. Everybody is putting their shoulder to the wheel but it is not safe.
“If it was any other industry there would now be a national inquiry into what planning went into the predictable surge in admissions.” Up until yesterday the highest level of overcrowding recorded under the INMO count system was 677 patients on January 3.