Just35of75 promised beds open as 596 left on trolleys

AROUND 35 of the 75 beds promised to relieve the winter trolley crisis have yet to be made available.

It comes as hospitals suffered one of the worst days of overcrowding this winter yesterday as 596 patients waited on trolleys for a bed.

Worst hit was Cork University Hospital (CUH) where 52 patients were without a bed, followed by University Hospital Limerick with 51 patients on trolleys.

Just 40 of the 75 beds promised in the HSE’s winter plan are available.

They include six in Tullamore Hospital that are due to come on stream by the end of March.

The HSE’s own figures showed 249 patients were on trolleys for more than nine hours yesterday afternoon.

Over the past year, an additional 240 beds have been made available.

Hospitals earmarked for extra beds include South Tipperary General, due to get a 40-bed modular unit.

It is planned to open a 30-bed ward in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital Drogheda, four higher dependency units at the Mater Hospital Dublin and four more at CUH.