Hospitals warn of 'unacceptable' pressures after 113 patients left on trolleys for over 24 hours

HSE figures show emergency departments saw 8.1% more patients in 2024 than during 2023, coming to 1.56m attendances. File Picture: Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie

Nurses and paramedics have issued warnings about the “unacceptable” post-Christmas pressures hospitals are facing as it emerged there were 113 hospitals patients on trolleys for longer than 24 hours by Monday. 

New figures also show that across 2024, 17,608 people aged over 75 spent longer than a full day in hospital emergency departments (ED).

The current pressure on hospitals is exacerbated by the flu crisis, which currently has 833 patients in hospital. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) found that there were 791 patients without a bed as of Monday. 

This is higher, it pointed out, than “the number of inpatient beds in University Hospital Waterford and Letterkenny University Hospital combined”.

General secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha called for an emergency national plan to find solutions.

“It is inconceivable that we are once again talking about how high trolley figures are on the first Monday in January,” she said.

“This level of overcrowding, when dealing with the level of flu and RSV that we have seen over the festive season, was entirely predictable. But there has been no plan in place by the HSE and individual health regions to stem the worst of it.” 

Paramedics also raised the alarm on Monday, with Siptu sector organiser John McCamley saying that they are facing “challenging conditions”.

“We are certainly preparing for difficulties and challenges this week given the weather and the overcrowding happening in the EDs at the moment because of the normal numbers attending and then on top the numbers affected by the flu outbreak as well,” he said.

Backlog and knock-on effect

While nationally delays are shorter than previous winters, he warned the “unacceptable” overcrowding has become normal.

“This is a constant issue after Christmas where there’s a backlog and it has a knock-on effect which goes on for the whole of January,” he said.

“That normally clears up when we are getting into February, but the problem is this has become a constant thing after Christmas. This can be anticipated."

HSE figures show emergency departments saw 8.1% more patients in 2024 than during 2023, coming to 1.56m attendances. Hospitals also admitted 7.2% more people than in 2023.

Some 58,168 patients waited longer than 24 hours in emergency departments for a bed.

While the data shows an 11.4% reduction in trolley numbers, with an average daily count of 296, a spokeswoman said: “We acknowledge that this number is still too high.” 

Among crisis measures, the HSE has supported out-of-hours GP services in getting the equivalent of 150 extra doctors operating in four-hour sessions. This is in addition to extra supports in emergency departments.

“We urge any patient requiring emergency hospital treatment not to delay and come to the ED, or dial 999 or 112 in an emergency,” she said.