Figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) show more than 100,000 patients have waited on trolleys in hospitals this year.
Some 100,111 patients have been treated in hospital without a bed so far in 2024, as the INMO also commenced a ballot of its members about potential industrial action in response to these obstacles to recruitment.
The hospital with the most patients on trolleys was University Hospital Limerick, with 18,944 patients. Cork University Hospital has had 10,923 patients on trolleys so far this year.
University Hospital Galway had 9,388 patients on trolleys so far in 2024, followed by Sligo University Hospital with 6,321 patients.
At St Vincent’s University Hospital, 5,644 people have waited on trolleys in 2024.
INMO general secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said the figures came as no surprise.
“We have been warning for months that the chronic problems in the health service will only be exacerbated by the suppression of posts and the implementation of recruitment caps, and unfortunately we have once again been proven right.
“The HSE and the department of health make repeated commitments to making the health service safer, but this is directly contradicted by their actions in terms of this recruitment policy.
“INMO members are now constantly scrambling to provide safe care to an increasing number of patients, in environments that are not safely staffed. This often means working long hours without breaks, working extra hours and contending with unmanageable workloads in highly stressful environments.
“The HSE and Government have effectively accepted recruitment processes will be slowed down to a crawling pace when replacing staff who retire or go on long-term leave, and in the meantime it is up to the existing staff to fill in the gaps.
“As the political system turns its focus to polling day, all candidates who aspire to be in government must commit to expediting the passage of the Patient Safety (Licensing) Bill which would put safe staffing on a legislative basis.
“Our members have been pushed to the brink over the last five years and for many of them seeing another annual report of 100,000 patients being treated in inappropriate spaces before we even reach November, is simply unacceptable.”
On Thursday's trolley count, there are 69 people waiting for a bed at University Hospital Limerick.
There are 42 people on trolleys at University Hospital Galway.
