22 waiting for beds in Kilkenny on day that Irish hospital hits overcrowding record

22 patients were waiting for beds at St Luke's Hospital in Kilkenny this morning as another Irish hospital has reached a new overcrowding record, according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO). 

Ninety patients are waiting for a bed at Cork University Hospital (CUH) today (March 29), making it the second most overcrowded hospital following University Hospital Limerick (99 patients waiting). 

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A total of 635 people are waiting for beds at hospitals nationwide, with Tallaght University Hospital, St Vincent's University Hospital and Letterkenny University Hospital all among the top five most overcrowded in the country, with 42 and 41 (each) patients respectively. 

INMO Assistant Director of Industrial Relations for the Southern region, Colm Porter, said, "Today we have seen yet another overcrowding record broken in Cork University Hospital with over 90 patients without a bed across the emergency department and other wards in the hospital. This is completely unacceptable. 

"Our members in CUH are under constant significant pressure that is showing no signs of abating as the situation continues to get worse in their workplace. As the union representing nurses working across the hospital we continue to raise health and safety concerns with hospital management on a near daily basis." 

He continued: "There has been no real or meaningful plan to support the CUH Emergency Department and its surrounds when it comes to increasing bed capacity since the last time an overcrowding record was reached there in September 2022. Urgent engagement is required to ensure that discharge facilities are available in the community.

"It is clear that there must be a laser-like focus from both the South/South-West Hospital Group itself and the HSE nationally to tackling the scale of overcrowding in Cork University Hospital." 

Just seven hospitals are free from overcrowding today including Connolly Hospital, National Children's Hospital Tallaght, Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise, Mid-Western Regional Hospital Ennis, Our Lady's Hospital Navan, and Wexford General Hospital.