81 patients were waiting for beds at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) this morning, the joint-highest figure recorded for any single hospital in a day, according to the INMO.
This record-high figure was hit previously by UHL on April 3rd of this year.
The union reported that the hospital is consistently the most overcrowded in the country. This is the third day in a row with more than 70 patients on trolleys.
The INMO has called for a Major Emergency Plan to be put in place in the hospital to cope with the crisis.
INMO Limerick's Mary Fogarty said:
This is a hospital in clear crisis. 81 patients on trolleys is the equivalent of three full wards.
Nurses expect additional strain on the health service in winter, but in mid-July UHL is in crisis mode. We are gravely concerned about the capacity of the service to provide safe care to patients.
It's clearly time for a Major Emergency Plan for the hospital. We need to halt all activity at the hospital with the exception of emergency admissions, to enable the hospital to bring about a controlled and safe environment for patients.
The hospital simply does not have enough capacity for this number of patients. The INMO wrote to the Minister for Health over recent ward closures, but it is now clearly time for HSE intervention and an urgent boost in resources from national government.