The number of people waiting for a bed at the region’s main hospital has hit its third highest number ever recorded today.
98 people were on trolleys at University Hospital Limerick as of this morning according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.
Of the 98 patients waiting for beds at UHL at 8am today, 54 of them were in the emergency department with 44 in overflow areas of wards.
Only in January of this year when trolley numbers hit 111, and last month when they hit 100, has the number recorded by the INMO in Dooradoyle ever been higher.
It’s nearly twice the figure of the next busiest facility in the country today, which is University Hospital Galway, where 53 patients are on trolleys.
Cork University Hospital, where the INMO declared an ‘overcrowding crisis’ was occurring just last month, has 44 people waiting for beds.
This latest milestone is sure to put further pressure on the region’s Oireachtas members, the Department of Health and the UL Hospitals Group to address the crisis.
Clare Councillors are set to discuss the possibility of an elective-only hospital being built in Ennis at their monthly meeting later this afternoon.
