Tens of thousands treated on trolleys at Kilkenny hospital over last 20 years
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has been reporting trolley figures for two decades
New figures have revealed that 45,983 patients have been treated without a bed at St Luke’s General Hospital in Kilkenny since 2006.
The data, collected over the past two decades by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, highlights the consistent pressure that the Irish hospital system has been under as over 1.7 million people were treated on trolleys nationally during the period.
The issue has worsened since 2016 with over one million left without a bed while last month was the worst April on record in terms of overcrowding with 282 observed at St Luke’s, an increase of more than 100 on the previous year.
As of Tuesday, 24 people were on trolleys at the Kilkenny facility, reflecting the high national figure of 613 and underlining the pressure that healthcare workers are facing on a daily basis.
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Speaking about the numbers over the last 20 years, INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha criticised the growth in trolley patients during that time.
“Since the INMO first launched TrolleyWatch in 2006, over 1.7 million people have been admitted to hospital without a bed. This problem has accelerated since 2016, as one million patients have been on a trolley in the last decade,” she said.
“This is a shameful statistic when you consider the amount of economic growth during this period. Behind every statistic is a patient who faced a lengthy wait for a bed. We know that there are so many negative health outcomes associated with being treated on a trolley,” she added.
“So many are sadly stripped of their dignity when being treated on an open corridor, despite our members doing their best to provide safe and timely care. For the health of one million people, equivalent to approximately one in six of the population, and the nurses caring for them, to be jeopardised in this way, tell us this system is failing its patients and its staff.”