81 patients were waiting without beds in University Hospital Limerick - the highest-ever daily figure recorded in an Irish hospital, according to today’s INMO Trolley Watch
UHL also saw a 17-bed ward closed last week, which the INMO says is contributing to the problem.
52 patients are waiting in UHL's emergency department, with 29 in wards elsewhere.
Nationally, 594 admitted patients are waiting for beds this morning. 432 are waiting in the emergency department, while 162 are in wards elsewhere in the hospital.
The worst-hit hospitals today are:
• University Hospital Limerick - 81
• Cork University Hospital – 50
• University Hospital Galway – 43
The INMO's Industrial Relations Officer in Limerick, Mary Fogarty, who is attending meetings at UHL today said:
Staff and patients are under intolerable pressure in Limerick today. This is the worst-ever figure we've recorded in an Irish hospital.
This comes less than a week after a 17-bed ward in UHL was shut. The beds that have been closed in UHL need to be reopened immediately.
We are calling on the Minister to intervene and deal with the chronic overcrowding in the hospital as an urgent matter of patient and staff safety.
The INMO has launched a petition, calling for the closed ward to be reopened and for bed capacity and staffing to be increased: https://my.uplift.ie/petitions/reopen-the-closed-beds-in-university-hospital-limerick
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