Trolley numbers in St Luke's Hospital Kilkenny

Figures published in the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organization of Ireland's (INMO) Trolley Watch report have revealed that 17 patients have been left waiting on beds in St. Luke's Hospital in Kilkenny today.

Five of these patients have been waiting in the emergency ward, with the remaining twelve waiting in wards elsewhere in the hospital. 

Nationally, there have been 793 admitted patients waiting on hospital beds today. 538 of these patients are waiting in emergency departments, with the remaining 255 patients in other wards. 

General Secretary for the INMO, Phil Ní Sheaghdha, has expressed great concern about the rise in hospital overcrowding:

"The Health Service Executive have failed to heed the warnings of frontline workers when it comes to hospital overcrowding and we are once again seeing another predictable post-bank holiday trolley surge in hospitals around the country this morning. This problem cannot be excused away by increased attendances down to flu and other respiratory illnesses, we know that after each bank holiday there is a surge, what is missing is a plan to deal with these predictable annual events.

“Very sick patients are being placed on trolleys not just in clinically inappropriate spaces such as infection control wards, but also unsafe spaces such as in front of fire points and fire exits. With capacity at over the recommended 85% in many hospitals today, the HSE needs to act urgently. 

“As the employer is not complying with its statutory responsibilities, we believe it is now time for a cross-agency approach to dealing with the grave patient and staff safety concerns. This includes the Health and Safety Authority, HIQA and local authorities coming together to examine the actions of the HSE which disregard fire safety hazards and infection control concerns.

“The HSE needs to make clear to nurses, midwives, healthcare workers, and indeed the public at large what extraordinary measures it intends to put in place from today to radically reduce the number of patients being treated on trolleys and in inappropriate spaces.  Decisions must be made that keep patients safe and protect staff from ever increasing exposure to outpouring of public frustration and anger."