Record Numbers on Trolleys
9,562 patients, including 48 children, were forced to wait without a bed in August this year – the highest number ever recorded in August, according to a new monthly
analysis by the INMO.
The daily national trolley figure was higher every day in August than the same day in 2018, with an average daily total 28% higher than last year.
The worst affected hospitals this month were:
- University Hospital Limerick: 1,197
- Cork University Hospital: 1,051
- University Hospital Galway: 655
- South Tipperary General Hospital: 597
- University Hospital Waterford: 561
INMO general secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha said:
“This is the tragic ongoing reality in Ireland’s health service. To see nearly 10,000 patients on trolleys is bad in itself, but this is a summer month. These figures signal an even more dangerous winter, when extra demands are typically placed on hospitals.
“At the core of the problem is staffing, as there are well over 1,300 nursing and midwifery vacancies across the This is no time for recruitment bans. Vacancies need to be filled so that patients get the care they need. The HSE’s recruitment ban has got to go.”
-end-