150 patients on trolleys and chairs as hospitals face overcrowding crisis

MORE than 150 patients, many elderly, were confined to trolleys and chairs yesterday as Dublin hospitals struggled to cope with an overcrowding crisis.

A snap survey of the capital’s large acute hospitals by the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) revealed that 39 patients were on trolleys or chairs awaiting admission to Beaumont Hospital, including 10 people over 80 years of age. The situation was particularly serious at Naas Hospital where 45 patients were on trolleys and chairs in the new A&E unit.

INO industrial relations officer Phil Ní Shéaghdha said the hospital had requested from the Eastern Regional Health Authority (ERHA) to go off call, but this had been denied because of serious difficulties in other A&Es.