Cork and Limerick hospitals worst affected by overcrowding 

One man suffering with chest pains spent from 11pm on Friday to 8pm on Sunday on a chair, trolley and sofa at Cork University Hospital

Clare TD Cathal Crowe TD spent two and a half days on a trolley in UHL in the new year. Picture: Gareth Chaney/ Collins 

Hospitals in Limerick and Cork were again the worst affected by overcrowding, as numbers of people on trolleys climb despite efforts to tackle the perennial issue.

One man suffering with chest pains spent last weekend on a chair, trolley and sofa at Cork University Hospital (CUH) in one example of the pressures.

Clare TD Cathal Crowe, who spent over two days on a trolley at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) recently, called for creative solutions, as the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation counted 569 patients without a bed on Wednesday.

This included 112 at UHL and 71 in CUH, with hospitals in Galway and some Dublin hospitals also extremely busy.

Separate HSE data showed 72 people waiting for longer than 24 hours, including eight people aged over 75.

In Cork a man in his 40s, who asked not to be named, went to the emergency department on SouthDoc’s advice at 11pm on Friday. He was triaged and tested then waited on a chair until 8pm on Saturday. 

He developed a severe migraine due to the bright lights so staff moved him to a darker area.

“It was absolutely crazy,” his wife who was with him said, adding nurses told her it was not considered a busy night. They asked her to wait with him, and she said she understood this was because they did not have enough staff to monitor this separate area.

He was moved to cardiology at 4pm on Sunday, on a trolley in the corridor. During the night, he spent time on a couch in a non-medical room, then back to the corridor until he was discharged at 8pm.

Mr Crowe questioned health minister Stephen Donnelly on UHL, asking for “positive consideration” of supports at Oireachtas Health Committee.

“I was in there New Years Eve with a rumbling appendix that nearly burst but the staff got it out on time,” he said.

He was also told by staff it was not so busy, however he said: “I was on a trolley for 2.5 days.

“I wasn’t in pain, I was hooked up to a drip and getting good care. I am very grateful to the staff, yet I could see the huge limitations and challenges they were facing.” 

These pressures could be alleviated by smaller hospitals in Ennis and Nenagh as well as St John’s hospital, he suggested. He questioned whether commercial property could be acquired to allow wards for elective procedures to be set up off-campus.

Mr Donnelly agreed the delays were “unacceptable”, but defended UHL’s progress in reducing waiting lists.

He said a surgical hub would be built at UHL and expanded opening hours at injury units in smaller hospitals were being examined.