UHL Most Overcrowded Hospital This January

Photo (c) Clare FM

University Hospital Limerick was the most overcrowded hospital in the country this month.

11,289 people were recorded on hospital trolleys since January 1st.

UHL accounted for 10% of the overall figure, at 1,180 patients.

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Cork, Galway, Letterkenny, and St. Vincent’s in Dublin make up the remainder of the top five – totaling of over 3,000.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation says, “a lack of adequate planning has put unnecessary stress on nurses and the patients”, describing January’s figures as “unacceptably high”.

INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said:

“A lack of adequate planning has put unnecessary stress on nurses and the patients they are trying to provide care for throughout the month of January. The number of patients on trolleys in wards outside our emergency departments have been unacceptably high. This practice should not be allowed to continue as a measure to try take pressure off our emergency departments.

“According to two recent opinion polls, over 75% of people would not visit an Emergency Department. The strategy of telling people to not attend hospital will have knock-on effects across the health service for months to come.

We cannot continue to accept the wait until things get unbearably bad approach before an attempt is made to lessen the pressure on our public hospital system. Nurses and their patients deserve better than this.”