Hospital among worst on INMO’s trolleys list

WEXFORD hospital was among the worst hit in terms of the number of patients waiting on trolleys yesterday morning according to figures released by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO).

According to the INMO’s Trolley Watch initiative there were 402 patients waiting on hospital beds at 8 a.m. yesterday and of those 268 were in emergency departments while 134 people were waiting in wards elsewhere in hospitals.

In Wexford General Hospital there were 28 patients waiting on trolleys at 8 a.m. and according to the INMO it was one of the four worst affected hospitals in the country at that time.

Of those 28 patients, 22 had been on a trolley awaiting a bed for over nine hours.

However, according to figures from the HSE, by 2 p.m. the number of patients waiting on a bed while on a trolley had decreased to seven with six of those having been on a trolley for over nine hours.

As part of the Trolley Watch initiative the INMO compiles figures from all around the country of patients waiting for a bed in emergency departments and in wards around hospitals, at 8 a.m. each day.

The aim of the initiative is to count the number of patients who have been admitted to acute hospitals and are waiting for a free bed. The INMO said such patients are often treated on trolleys in corridors but they may also be on chairs, in waiting rooms, or wherever there is space.