Irish hospitals now so overcrowded they breach safe occupancy limits, report finds

Hospitals are advised to stay under an 85% occupancy rate but in 2023, hospitals across Cork and Kerry ran at 87% occupancy for in-patients and 129.1% for day-wards in the HSE South-West region. File picture

Irish hospitals are now so overcrowded all of the HSE regions breach recommended safe occupancy limits, with the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) saying up to 934 extra beds will be needed just for Cork and Kerry by 2040.

This new ESRI data fed into a review of emergency services published by Hiqa for the Mid-West counties this week.