Kilkenny hospital among most overcrowded in country as surge continues
Hospital staff in Kilkenny and nationwide faced unprecedented levels of demand in July
Pressure is growing at St Luke’s General Hospital in Kilkenny as the number of patients being treated on trolleys or outside beds increased by almost 40% between Tuesday and Wednesday morning.
Thirty-eight people were on trolleys according to figures released by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation on Tuesday with the HSE issuing a statement that afternoon acknowledging the high levels of activity and urging service users to seek alternate treatment if they were not experiencing an emergency.
The pressure at the hospital has increased further however, as 53 patients are now having to be treated in inappropriate spaces, an unusually high figure during the normally calmer summer period.
This leaves St Luke’s as the fourth most overcrowded hospital in the country at the time of the writing, behind only the crisis-hit Limerick University Hospital (113), Cork University Hospital (69) and Sligo University Hospital.
In a statement accompanying Tuesday’s nationwide figures INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha was strong in her criticism of the situation.
“The fact that we have over 617 patients being treated on trolleys, chairs and in other inappropriate bed spaces this morning following the August Bank Holiday is outrageous,” she asserted.
“It is clear the HSE have failed to heed the warnings of the INMO all throughout this summer and now patients are bearing the brunt of what was a totally avoidable trolley crisis during one of the hottest summers on record,” she added.
In a response to The Kilkenny People the HSE said: “St Luke’s General Hospital, Kilkenny/Carlow remains busy with high patient volumes and increasing complexity of care. We acknowledge that people are awaiting admission on a trolley in our emergency department.”
“This is not the standard of care we want for patients of our services, and we regret that any patient would have to wait for a hospital bed this way. We are doing all we can to optimise the flow of patients through our hospital.”
“People who are seriously injured or ill are assessed and treated as a priority and those who do not require urgent care may experience long waiting times. We are acutely aware that even one person on a trolley is too many and reducing our trolley figures continues to be a particular focus at St Luke’s.”