2011 worst year in a decade for patients on trolleys

LAST year was the worst in almost a decade for the number of patients waiting on trolleys.

According to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), 86,481 patients were left on a trolley waiting for a bed, a 14% increase on the 2010 figure.

The INMO said the figure was the highest since it began maintaining records in 2004, marking an all-time low for patients.

However, December showed a 13% drop in the numbers on trolleys compared to December 2010 — an improvement Dr James Reilly, the health minister, attributed to the ongoing work of his Special Delivery Unit (SDU) which began operating last September.

“Up to that point, on average, month on month, there were 30% more people lying on trolleys in our hospitals than there had been in the previous year [2010],” Dr Reilly said.

However, patient trolley numbers were now “below the average”. “The first Wednesday of the New Year last year was the highlight where we had 569 people on trolleys. This year that number was 325 or 326,” he said.

Despite the ongoing work of the SDU — whose brief includes tackling lengthy waiting times in emergency departments — a worsening of the trolley problem seems likely under the cuts contained in the HSE’s national service plan for 2012.

On trolleys

The worst offenders

* Our Lady of Lourdes, Drogheda: 7,449

* Beaumont: 7,410

* Cork University Hospital: 6,649

* University Hospital Galway: 6,544

* St Vincent’s University Hospital: 6,403