9,856 patients admitted to hospital without a bed in March

9,856 patients went without a hospital bed in the month of March according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation. 

The top 5 most overcrowded hospitals include:

1. University Hospital Limerick (1,961 patients)
2. Cork University Hospital (1,079 patients
3. University Hospital Galway (685 patients)
4. St. Vincent’s University Hospital (605 patients)
5. Sligo University Hospital (525 patients) 

INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said:

It has been an extremely busy month in Irish hospitals. We are still continuing to see a worrying number of patients on trolleys in hospitals across the western seaboard and in the Midwest. 

INMO members who are rostered to work this bank holiday weekend are more and more concerned about the ever-increasing risks associated with the provision of services in constantly overcrowded and a progressively under-staffed service.

The fact is that nurses and midwives will be working short in wards that have significant vacancies due to the HSE recruitment moratorium. The INMO discussed the grave impact that the recruitment freeze is having on the working lives of our members at a conciliation conference organised through the WRC yesterday. 

INMO officials were joined by experienced Directors and Assistant Directors of Nursing at the WRC yesterday to give the real human impact the recruitment freeze is having on patients, nurses and midwives. Progress was made at the WRC and talks will continue.