628 patients are being treated on a trolley, chair, or in another inappropriate bed space today, according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (today’s figures attached).
INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said:
The number of people on trolleys today is exceptionally high considering the time of year.
It is clear from today’s figures that the level of overcrowding outside the emergency department in hospitals around the country is unmanageable, with over a third of patients admitted to hospital without a bed now being treated elsewhere in the hospital.
Management in hospitals where overcrowding is particularly worrying must now make it their focus to de-escalate the number of patients being admitted on trolleys. The aim must be to reduce the number of patients being treated on trolleys across the hospital.
The HSE must outline precisely how it is going to radically reduce persistent and dangerous overcrowding across all regions. Our members are reporting that significant overcrowding, coupled with unmet recruitment and retention targets, is making it impossible to provide safe care to those who need it most.