150% more patients waiting for hospital beds today (Oct 24) compared to 10 years prior

150% more admitted patients are waiting for hospital beds today (October 24) compared to 10 years prior. 

That's according to figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), which revealed over 600 people are waiting this morning without access to a bed in emergency departments and wards nationwide. 

University Hospital Limerick is by far the most overcrowded hospital across the country with 86 patients waiting for beds, followed by 71 people at Cork University Hospital and 43 at Sligo University Hospital. 

Just two hospitals are free from overcrowding including Beaumont Hospital and Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise. 

In comparison, 242 people were on trolleys at overcrowded Irish hospitals in 2012. 

South Tipperary General Hospital was recorded as the most overcrowded with 24 people waiting for beds, followed by 22 at Beaumont Hospital, 19 at University College Hospital Galway, and 17 at Mater Misericordiae University Hospital. 

No overcrowding was recorded at four hospitals including Tallaght University Hospital, Cavan General Hospital, Mid Western Regional Hospital Ennis, and Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise. 

The INMO has recently called on the HSE and government to implement "an immediate plan to tackle chronic dangerous overcrowding in our emergency departments". 

In a statement on Twitter on October 18, the INMO stated: "Action needed on safe staffing, fast tracking recruitment and getting private hospitals on the pitch now." 

Most recently (October 21), the organisation sounded the alarm on "intolerable and unsafe" conditions at Mercy University Hospital in Cork in particular. 

In a Twitter statement, the INMO said, "It's time for hospital management to implement a full escalation protocol and curtain non-urgent electives." 

In a statement released on the INMO website, Industrial Relations Officer Liam Conway said, "Significant overcrowding in Mercy University Hospital has led to a dangerous environment for staff and their patients. Our members are describing conditions inside the hospital itself as unsafe and intolerable, this is coupled with a significant ambulance wait time outside of the hospital itself. 

"Since the beginning of October, over 379 patients have been on trolleys in the Mercy. This is unsustainable for our members. We know that there is a serious problem across all hospitals in Cork City. when it comes to the discharging of patients back into the community. This requires urgent political intervention in the days and weeks ahead.  

"It is vital to ensure that action is taken to protect both our members and their patients. The environment they find themselves in is making it impossible to provide safe and timely care. The volume of trolleys in the emergency department is leading to concerns around infection control and fire safety." 

He concluded: "Urgent interventions are now required from the South/Southwest Hospital Group by way of implementing a full escalation protocol. Hospital management must now curtail all non-urgent elective care. Additional bed capacity must be sourced in the community and from the private sector in order to alleviate serious pressure in the hospital."