The INMO has stated that 11,595 patients were treated without a hospital bed in February 2026, making it the worst February on record for hospital overcrowding.
The union noted that although overcrowding is now a year-round problem across the country, particular hotspots are apparent in this winter’s trolley count, with over 1,900 patients waiting for beds in University Hospital Limerick and over 1,200 in University Hospital Galway in February alone.
The hospital with the highest trolley figures this month are:
- University Hospital Limerick: 1,978
- University Hospital Galway: 1.263
- Sligo University Hospital: 937
- St Vincent’s University Hospital: 849
- Cork University Hospital: 848
INMO General Secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha said:
Our members predicted that the recruitment embargo represented by the HSE’s Pay and Numbers Strategy would only worsen the situation in already disastrously overcrowded hospitals. Sadly, they have been proven right, as we are seeing here the results of a failure to adequately staff services in both hospital and community services.
This is a truly alarming situation, and one that can only be addressed with a serious commitment to safe staffing across the health service.
There is simply no care without staffing, and any additional bed capacity in the health service needs to be matched with the staffing numbers prescribed in the safe staffing framework.
INMO Assistant Director of Industrial Relations Mary Fogarty said:
The two most overcrowded hospitals here in Limerick and Galway, are key facilities in these regions, and the overcrowding and staffing issues will have a widespread impact on outcomes across the West and the Mid-West.
Our members are telling us there is simply no way to provide safe care in conditions where there are 50 to 100 patients on trolleys every day, and this impact on patients, alongside the physical and mental toll on our members, is simply unacceptable.
This is a high-risk situation for our members and the patients attending these hospitals, as well as people requiring community and primary care across these regions, and staffing numbers need to be brought in line with healthcare needs as a matter of urgency.