Hospital overcrowding still 'a serious problem' - Kilkenny Live

Over 12,132 patients, including 278 children went without a hospital bed this January according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO).

At St Luke's Hospital in Kilkenny, 217 patients were waiting for a hospital bed last month, 317 less than the same period in 2022 (534 patients).

The top three most overcrowded hospitals in the country were the University Hospital Limerick (2,073), Cork University Hospital (1,632) and University Hospital Galway (1,041).

INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha, said: "Another January has passed with hospital overcrowding remaining a serious problem in Irish hospitals. There were only three instances this month where less than 500 people were waiting on trolleys, chairs or other inappropriate bed spaces."

"Hundreds of people are sick enough to be admitted to hospital each day but there is no bed for them. Some of the care environments are totally inappropriate, in some instances the care is provided on chairs. It is clear that capacity in the health system isn’t sufficient. We have not seen a significant drop in the number of patients on trolleys. We need more beds and we need more patient-facing staff. The HSE must agree a realistic workforce plan which provides for sufficient nurses and midwives to be employed to provide safe care and plan for more beds to open," Ní Sheaghdha stated.

"Patient safety is of the utmost importance to our members, they want to be in a position to provide safe and timely care. It is the view of INMO members that hospital overcrowding has not improved. On each hospital site the occupancy rate is above 83% which means that the provision of safe care is compromised," he concluded.

Meanwhile, today (February 1), there are 12 patients waiting on trolleys in the emergency department at St Luke's General Hospital, Kilkenny today and a further eight patients waiting on the wards.

Nationally, there are 387 patients waiting on wards across the country and a further 163 patients waiting on the wards.

That's according to the daily INMO trolley watch figures.