The level of overcrowding at the region’s main hospital jumped by close to a quarter in November, compared to the same month last year.
The latest figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation shows 1,962 patients were left waiting for beds at University Hospital Limerick this month, which represents an increase of 366, or 23%, on the same month in 2022.
The figures is in excess of 800 more than the next busiest facility; Cork University Hospital.
Overall, 11,493 patients, including 434 children, went without a bed in Irish hospitals in November according to the INMO’s latest TrolleyWatch analysis.
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The union says the sheer volume of patients admitted to hospital is too high and “the call has to be made now, ahead of what is going to be a dangerous situation, to curtail non-urgent elective activity and ensure that our private hospitals are available to assist”.
