Almost 800 people unable to get a hospital bed 

Trolley Watch figures paint a grim picture of the overcrowding situation in our hospitals.

Almost 800 people were unable to get a hospital bed on Wednesday as overcrowding linked to the flu and fallout from the winter weather continues in hospitals.

Patients at University Hospital Limerick again faced long waits with 103 people without a bed counted by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO).

The HSE in Cork and Kerry also warned on Wednesday the emergency departments (EDs) at Cork University Hospital (CUH), Mercy University Hospital, and University Hospital Kerry (UHK) were experiencing high levels of activity.

They advised people to instead consider seeking support from pharmacists, GPs, SouthDoc, or injury units unless they are seriously ill.

CUH was particularly busy with 65 people on trolleys, the INMO said, among the 767 around the country without a bed.

Numbers at smaller hospitals in Munster appeared lower but in light of the smaller ED space available, also indicate high levels of overcrowding.

Cork University Hospital was particularly busy with 65 people on trolleys, the INMO said, among the 767 around the country without a bed on Wednesday. Picture: Larry Cummins

This included at the Mercy hospital where 14 people were on trolleys, UHK where 24 people were without a bed, and Tipperary University Hospital in Clonmel where 11 people were waiting.

Ennis hospital was also overcrowded with 10 patients on trolleys even though there is no ED there. 

It is understood beds at the hospital are also being used for patients transferred from University Hospital Limerick (UHL).

Flu care

While the numbers of new patients with flu appear to be dropping up to last week, patients can spend up to three weeks in hospital with flu meaning those infected last month are still in need of care.

Dr Alan Watts of the Irish Association of Emergency Medicine and consultant at UHL said a lack of beds is a critical and long-standing problem at many hospitals.

This problem has become worse in recent years, he told RTÉ also on Wednesday. 

“It is a problem of capacity, in the acute hospitals,” he said, explaining 75% of patients who come to an ED do not need to be admitted typically.

“Unfortunately the bed capacity is just not there to accommodate them,” he said. 

“Patients end up waiting on trolleys for a hospital bed.” 

He said UHL is also short of beds although he expects the 96-bed unit set to open this year “will make a difference absolutely” to the crisis.

However, he said the bed numbers at UHL remain far lower than the OECD or Irish averages for beds required to match population, saying we "pale in comparison” still.

“The OECD average is 4.3 acute beds per 1,000, the Irish average is 2.9 per thousand and in Limerick it is far less than that,” he warned.

He pointed out overcrowding has been proven to have severe negative health consequences.

“There have been numerous international studies which have demonstrated that patients who ultimately wait for longer than eight hours or 12 hours do less well and it increases morbidity and mortality,” he said.

“A study out of France a few years ago demonstrated that [effect] was actually exacerbated in those who are over 75 who are waiting for a bed overnight between midnight and 8am.”