Pressure continues at Kilkenny hospital as hundreds treated on trolleys last month
The number of patients treated on trolleys in May was the highest since 2023 at the hospital
Over 300 people were treated without a bed at St Luke’s General Hospital in Kilkenny during the month of May as the health service endured another difficult month in terms of overcrowding and staff shortages.
According to figures released by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Association on Monday, the Kilkenny hospital recorded an increase of nearly 78% in patients on trolleys across May compared with last year, as the figure jumped from 174 to 309.
It’s the highest May number since 2023 when 413 patients were treated on trolleys at St Luke’s.
Sixteen patients were being treated outside of a bed on May 28 with this number reaching as high as 32 on certain days during the month.
Nearly 10,000 patients were on trolleys nationally over the course of the month. The worst affected facilities were Cork University Hospital with 806 and University Hospital Limerick on 2,018, well over twice as high as anywhere else in the country.
Speaking about the data, INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha called for improved conditions for nurses and midwives through increased staffing levels.
“The number of people on trolleys in May has been far too high,” she said. “We are seeing regular occurrences of daily trolley counts of over 500 people being treated on trolleys, chairs or other inappropriate bed spaces.”
“It is clear that the political system needs to act and introduce vital legislation to underpin safe nurse and midwife staffing with legislation. Nurses and midwives have made it clear that staffing deficits are impacting their ability to provide safe and timely care.”
“Underpinning safe staffing levels with legislation is the only way to make sure hospitals comply with HIQA recommendations on inadequate staffing. If we are seeing these levels of overcrowding now, then serious consideration needs to be given to how the HSE is going to make the acute hospital system safer over the winter months,” she concluded.