One hundred and fifty patients were left waiting for beds at the region’s main hospital this morning, making it the worst day in history for hospital overcrowding at any facility in the country.
The latest figures from the INMO show there were more patients waiting for beds at University Hospital Limerick during morning rounds, than the next two busiest hospitals, Cork and Galway University Hospitals, combined.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation says patients are being placed in “all available spaces” at UHL, “whatever their condition”, which it says is “unacceptable and dangerous”.
The nurses’ union says “when overcrowding is out of control it is simply impossible to maintain patient safety and dignity” and it’s calling on the HSE and UHL Hospital Group to take targeted measures immediately, to protect working nurses in these departments and wards.
