This month has been the worst August since records began for patients seeking access to a hospital bed, according to new figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO).
The latest update from the organisation’s Trolley Watch shows that 9,720 people who were admitted to hospital through emergency departments had to wait to access a bed this month, the highest figure for August since the monitoring began in 2006.
The most overcrowded hospital in the State this month was University Hospital Limerick, with 1,885 patients waiting on trolleys. This was followed by Cork University Hospital with 984 patients waiting, and University Hospital Galway, where 920 people had to wait for a free bed this month.
The nursing union also said the number of children on trolleys was escalating at a worrying rate, with over 167 children admitted to hospital without a bed throughout the month of August.
INMO general secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said: "There’s no doubt this winter is going to continue the pattern of difficult and dangerous times in our hospitals.
"The summer period used to see an easing off in overcrowding figures but this year numbers admitted to inappropriate spaces, trolleys and chairs have been alarmingly high too early in the season. The new so-called target of no more than 320 people on trolleys set by HSE was only achieved on five days this year.
"Last year was the previous record for August overcrowding, and the winter that followed was honestly beyond what we could have imagined. This August is somehow worse again, and our members are worried, for themselves, and for their patients, about what is in store for them over the coming months.
"The ongoing increase shows how urgently we need to implement safe staffing legislation, so that hospitals have sufficient staff to diagnose, treat and discharge patients safely, and vulnerable people are not languishing on trolleys and chairs for days at a time.
"Medical evidence shows that spending more than six hours on a trolley is detrimental to a patient’s long-term health outcomes. In stark terms it increases the mortality rate by over 8 per cent.
"The INMO is of the view that this situation is not being met with the required urgency or focus required. The constant state of overcrowding in our hospitals is a leading cause of nurses and midwives intending to leave their current work areas and indeed the professions altogether."
