Record 100,000 people on trolleys in 2022 so far with Limerick and Cork worst hit

Some 100,195 patients have been on trolleys this year, according to Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation analysis released on Tuesday. More than 1,903 children have been on trolleys

The INMO is calling for practical planning in advance of the predicted unsafe situation.

More than 100,000 patients have gone without beds in 2022, with hospitals in Cork and Limerick the worst hit.

Some 100,195 patients have been on trolleys this year, according to Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) analysis released on Tuesday. Over 1,903 children have been on trolleys.

According to the union, this is the earliest this number of admitted patients on trolleys has ever been recorded.

The INMO is now calling for practical planning in advance of this predicted unsafe situation.

The five worst-hit hospitals so far this year are:

• University Hospital Limerick: 15,322;
• Cork University Hospital: 10,107;
• Sligo University Hospital: 6,919;
• St Vincent’s University Hospital: 6,359;
• Letterkenny University Hospital: 5,366.

"It is not good enough that nurses and the patients they are trying to provide safe care to are expected to accept this as normal," said INMO general secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha.

Senior figures in the health service have warned the Irish public that waiting over 24 hours to be admitted to hospital is the new normal. In no other country would this level of indignity be accepted."

The INMO is calling for a four-pronged approach to tackle overcrowding and the recruitment and retention crisis.

It wants to see:

• The cancellation of non-urgent elective care in public hospitals and use of private hospitals for this work;
• The introduction of retention measures including provision of accommodation for essential workers such as nurses and midwives particularly in rent pressure zones;
• Legislation to underpin the implementation of the safe staffing and skill mix framework;
• Prioritisation of funding for publicly delivered long-term care in the community.

Ms Ní Sheaghdha said there were vulnerable patients "trapped in undignified and unsafe conditions" behind the union's daily trolley figures.

"Our members are working incredibly hard, it is clear that our public health service can no longer provide both emergency care and elective care. 

"To that end, we are calling for all non-urgent elective care in public hospitals to be curtailed. Private hospitals must be now brought on the pitch to provide elective care until the end of March 2023 at the very least."

"We know that many nurses and midwives are signalling their intention to leave the profession or go abroad to work in safer conditions. 

"Directors of nursing and midwifery in hospitals are telling us how incredibly difficult it is to recruit but also retain staff, particularly in large hospitals. We are now calling on the Government to deal with this unsafe, unacceptable and inhumane situation."

Meanwhile, the Irish Examiner reported on Tuesday that nurses and midwives are resigning or retiring early because of the level of assaults being made against them and the exodus is expected to only worsen, their representative body has warned.

Almost 3,400 assaults were made against nurses, doctors, care assistants and other healthcare workers in just the first nine months of this year.