Rate of patients on trolleys falls but still ‘in crisis’

The number of people forced to be treated on hospital trolleys has fallen by 17% in a year — but is still a massive 33% higher than when the crisis was first labelled a “national emergency”.

Figures revealed at the opening of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation’s annual conference show that despite a recent drop in cases, Ireland’s emergency unit overcrowding crisis is continuing to cause havoc to patient care.

According to the union, which provides daily trolley counts, in the first four months of this year a total of 26,106 patients were forced to put up with the sub-standard service.