Over 66,000 people on trolleys at Kildare's main hospital in 20 years
The figure exceeds 1.7 million across the country
A total of 66,066 people have been treated on trolleys at Naas Hospital between January 2006 and May 2026.
The figure has been provided by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, which has been monitoring overcrowding at hospitals across Ireland for two decades.
It says over 1.7 million people have been treated on a trolley, chairs, or in another inappropriate bed space since the union began counting trolleys in 2006.
And in the last decade alone, over 1 million people have been on trolleys.
INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said: “The INMO has been counting (the numbers) for over twenty years and in that time, our methodology has never changed.”
Ms Ní Sheaghdha said that since 2006 over 1.7 million people have been admitted to hospital without a bed.
“This problem has accelerated since 2016, as one million patients have been on a trolley in the last decade. This is a shameful statistic when you consider the amount of economic growth during this period.
“Behind every statistic is a patient who faced a lengthy wait for a bed. We know that there are so many negative health outcomes associated with being treated on a trolley. So many are sadly stripped of their dignity when being treated on an open corridor, despite our members doing their best to provide safe and timely care.
“For the health of one million people, equivalent to approximately 1 in 6 of the population, and the nurses caring for them, to be jeopardised in this way, tells us this system is failing its patients and its staff.”
The worst affected hospital in the eastern region during the period was St Vincent Hospital which had an overcrowding figure of 99,409.
The figure for Portlaoise Hospital was 25,647 while Tullamore Hospital returned a figure of 35,684 for the period.