Over 8,680 patients have been without a bed in Irish hospitals in May according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Monthly TrolleyWatch figures.
The most overcrowded hospitals of May 2022 include:
1. University Hospital Limerick (1,823 patients)
2. Cork University Hospital (898 patients)
3. Sligo University Hospital / Galway University Hospital (761 patients)
4. St. Luke’s Hospital, Kilkenny (637 patients)
5. St. Vincent’s University Hospital (509 patients)
INMO General Secretary, Phil Ní Sheaghdha said:
It has been another extremely difficult month for Irish nurses and midwives in our hospitals. May is traditionally a time in our hospitals where pressure begins to ease but our members have had no reprieve.
Yet again, University Hospital Limerick is the most overcrowded hospital in the State. Nurses there are reporting that they are under tremendous pressure and are completely overwhelmed by the conditions they are working in day in and day out. Nurses right across the country are reporting high levels of burnout.
The HSE Emergency Taskforce should convene in Limerick, so all members can see first-hand the suboptimal conditions that healthcare staff are working in and make recommendations on improving conditions in the country’s most overcrowded Emergency Department.
The Minister for Health must make good on his proposed expert review of University Hospital Limerick. It has been over a month since he announced a review would take place, yet no terms of reference have been published or meetings have been scheduled with this union.
Nurses and other healthcare staff cannot be expected to sustain this type of pressure all throughout the summer. If the Government and HSE are serious about retaining those who already work in the health service, meaningful action must be taken to ensure safe care conditions for both patients and staff. No nurse wants to have to care for patients in sub-optimal conditions.
It is time for the HSE’s Emergency Taskforce to urgently reconvene to discuss overcrowding and realistic solutions to same on a hospital-by-hospital basis.