INMO warn of 'chaotic' winter as number of nurses planning to quit 'higher than ever'

General Secretary of the INMO Phil Ni Sheaghdha Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has warned that a "chaotic" winter is ahead if the HSE does not take immediate action to deal with the trolley crisis.

The group is also seeing a level of burnout and an intention from staff to leave "higher than it has ever been".

11,856 people, including 300 children were on trolleys in the month of May,  the group's data has shown.

That number was more than January, which saw the worst level of daily overcrowding since the Trolley Watch system began.

The top 5 most overcrowded hospitals include:

• University Hospital Limerick – 1857 patients 
• Cork University Hospital - 1310 patients 
• University Hospital Galway - 896 patients 
• Sligo University Hospital – 751 patients 
• Tallaght University Hospital – 704 patients 

INMO general secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said: "The number of patients we have seen on trolleys in the month of May are higher than January 2023, when we saw the worst levels of daily hospital overcrowding since the INMO began counting trolleys. 

This type of overcrowding at the beginning of summer must be immediately addressed to prevent an even more chaotic winter.

“Nurses are working in a system that has normalised over 500 people a day on trolleys. They have had little to no reprieve from overcrowding. Our members are reporting high levels of burnout and their intention to leave their current work area is higher than it has ever been."

A meeting on Tuesday of the Emergency Department Taskforce, which the INMO co-chairs with the HSE, heard "stark warnings" from experts about the winter months if no action is taken, particularly when it comes to RSV and influenza.

Ms Ní Sheaghdha called for a "laser-like focus" from the Government and the HSE to tackle the overcrowding crisis "once and for all".

She said: "The corrective measures we seek are proper planning of the cancellation of non-urgent elective surgery in line with public health projections; pre-arranged agreements with private acute hospitals to provide non-urgent elective surgery; and bespoke retention and recruitment initiatives to be implemented now to ensure staffing for additional capacity that is definitely going to be needed."

As of 8am on Wednesday morning, 437 patients are waiting on beds across Ireland.