Hospital overcrowding breaks August record as INMO warns of 'dangerous' winter

University Hospital Limerick, the hospital worst affected by overcrowding issues. Picture: Don Moloney

This month was the worst August in history for hospital overcrowding, with more than 9,720 patients admitted without a bed, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has said.

Of the patients admitted to hospitals without a bed in August, 167 were children. The figure breaks the record set last August, when it stood at 9,603 patients.

The INMO said it was a "warning shot" ahead of another "difficult" winter in hospitals.

The most overcrowded hospitals in the country in August are:

• University Hospital Limerick — 1,885 
• Cork University Hospital — 984 
• University Hospital Galway — 920 
• Sligo University Hospital — 737 
• Letterkenny University Hospital — 539 

INMO general secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said there was "no doubt" the winter ahead was going to be "difficult and dangerous" in hospitals.

"The summer period used to see an easing off in overcrowding figures but this year numbers admitted to inappropriate spaces, trolleys and chairs have been alarmingly high too early in the season. 

"The new so-called target of no more than 320 people on trolleys set by HSE was only achieved on five days this year.

"Last year was the previous record for August overcrowding, and the winter that followed was honestly beyond what we could have imagined. 

This August is somehow worse again, and our members are worried, for themselves, and for their patients, about what is in store for them over the coming months.

She added: "The ongoing increase shows how urgently we need to implement safe staffing legislation, so that hospitals have sufficient staff to diagnose, treat and discharge patients safely, and vulnerable people are not languishing on trolleys and chairs for days at a time."

The INMO said medical evidence showed spending more than six hours on a trolley can be detrimental to a patient's long-term health. 

It increases the mortality rate by over 8%.

Ms Ní Sheaghdha said: "The INMO is of the view that this situation is not being met with the required urgency or focus required. 

"The constant state of overcrowding in our hospitals is a leading cause of nurses and midwives intending to leave their current work areas and indeed the professions altogether.”