'Out of control' - INMO slams hospital overcrowding as hundreds of people wait on trolleys

Over 500 people are waiting for beds in hospitals across Ireland today (Thursday January 27), in a situation the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) are calling "out of control". 

The INMO have called on the HSE and the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly this week to directly intervene and deal with the spiraling trolley numbers. 

The call comes as 532 patients are reported as waiting on beds across Irish hospitals this morning, with 549 recorded yesterday (Wednesday January 26). 

Minister Donnelly tweeted yesterday evening to welcome news of a reduced number of patients with Covid in hospital. 

He said, "Covid numbers continue to trend in the right direction. The number of patients with Covid in hospitals has fallen below 700 this evening. Our high vaccine and booster uptake is making a huge difference." 
 
However, he made no mention of patients waiting on trolleys across hospitals. 

INMO General Secretary, Phil Ní Sheaghdha, said, "The situation in our hospitals, particularly University Hospital Limerick is now out of control. It is unacceptable to our members that this level of overcrowding is allowed to continue while Covid is still a very real feature in our hospitals. 

“Time and time again, our members have called for real and meaningful action to curb the overcrowding crisis in our hospitals." 

The INMO has also called for HIQA to investigate the situation in University Hospital Limerick, which recorded 111 patients on trolleys yesterday (Wednesday January 26), marking two days in a row where a national record has been broken.   

Today's numbers across Ireland include 400 patients waiting in emergency departments around the country as well as 132 in wards elsewhere. 

University Hospital Limerick is the most overcrowded in the country with 70 people waiting today, followed by Letterkenny University Hospital with 57 patients waiting on trolleys, and University Hospital Galway with 48. 

Just four out of thirty two hospitals have adequate space for admitted patients; Nenagh General Hospital, Bantry General Hospital, Beaumont Hospital and Connelly Hospital in Blanchardstown. 

Ní Sheaghdha concluded: "We cannot go back to business as usual in our hospitals as society begins to reopen. Non-emergency care must be curtailed in our hospitals until the end of February to allow nurses and midwives to have some chance of doing their jobs safely."