INMO Report Highest Ever Overcrowding Levels In October

Trolley numbers at the region’s main hospital have hit their highest ever level for the month of October.

The latest trolleywatch analysis from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, point to a 45% increase in the level of overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick this month, compared to the same period last year.

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Nurses say 1,045 patients were left waiting for beds at University Hospital Limerick this month, the highest figure ever recorded for the month of October, twice the equivalent of the facility’s total bed capacity.

The latest figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation show this represents a 45% increase on the same month last year and an almost 400% rise in the past decade.

The Dooradoyle facility was once again the most overcrowded in the country, while University Hospital Galway was the second busiest, with 716 patients left waiting to be admitted over the course of the month there.

Ennis General Hospital, meanwhile, also saw a sharp rise in trolley numbers from 14 in October 2017 to 50 over the past five weeks.

The INMO says our current health service simply does not have the capacity to cope, and points out that while the government accept the need for additional beds, a plan hasn’t been put in place to tackle this daily problem.