Elderly hit hardest by beds crisis

ALMOST 1,000 over-75s spent more than 24 hours on a trolley in our hospitals in September, the Irish Mail On Sunday can reveal.

New figures show that close to 11,000 elderly patients spent more than a day on a trolley this year, the worst total on record since figures began to be documented in 2014.

Earlier this week it was revealed that the number of patients on trolleys nationwide hit record heights, with the total more than any other month over the past 12 years.

University Hospital Limerick remains the worst offender. The hospital has in the region of 440 overnight beds, however, last month there were 1,045 patients on trolleys.

In March, 201 people aged over 75 spent more than 24 hours on a trolley in the Limerick facility – again the highest on record this year.

South Tipperary General Hospital had 474 patients on trolleys in September – more than three times their total bed capacity. A spokesperson for the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation described the situation as ‘concerning’. They blamed the lack of nurses for the escalating problem which is set to worsen as the winter sets in.

‘It’s not even peak winter season and over 9,000 patients have been forced to wait on trolleys,’ they added. ‘Behind every number is a person, forced to endure a hardship at a vulnerable time. Our health service’s capacity has to increase. But extra beds means extra nurses, and the HSE simply cannot hire enough nurses and midwives on these low wages.’

The HSE said it ‘truly regrets that any patient should have to wait for admission from ED to a hospital ward’.