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17 Dec 2025
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17 Dec 2025
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It has been the worst-ever year for overcrowding at St Luke's Hospital in Kilkenny, according to figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.
A total of 6,087 patients were waiting on beds during 2022 - almost twice that of the previous year, when the figure was 3,195. The year before that, 2020, it was 1,914.
It reflects national trends, with over 121,318 patients, including 2,777 children, going without a bed in Irish hospitals in 2022.
“Our members have spent this year working in a constant state of crisis," said INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha.
"Nurses are unfortunately ending this year how they started it — firefighting intolerable overcrowding coupled with highly transmissable viruses and infections. INMO members in triage and emergency departments in Ireland’s busiest hospitals are highlighting how the conditions are comprising patient safety."
Ms Ní Sheaghdha said there was 'silent acceptance from Government and the HSE on this type of overcrowding for far too long'.
"The HSE have acknowledged that things are going to get worse in our hospitals before they get better but have not outlined what precise supports will be made available to our members in the coming days and weeks ahead," she said.
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