150 patients on trolleys at UHL in 'worst day for hospital overcrowding' since 2006

The INMO has now called for measures to be put in place in the hospital to improve patient flow.

University Hospital Limerick (UHL) has recorded "the worst day" for overcrowding in any Irish hospital, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has said.

There are 150 patients without a hospital bed at UHL, which the INMO says makes it "the worst day for hospital overcrowding in any Irish hospital since the union began counting trolleys in 2006".

The INMO has now called for measures to be put in place in the hospital to improve patient flow.

In total, 710 patients are waiting for beds across the country. While Limerick is the worst affected, Cork University Hospital has 60 patients on trolleys followed by University Hospital Galway with 52.

INMO Assistant Director of Industrial Relations for the Midwest and Western regions Mary Fogarty said overcrowding records have been broken three times in the space of two weeks at UHL.

"Since the beginning of January over 2,573 patients have been admitted to UHL without a bed," said Ms Fogarty.

"These patients, no matter what their condition is, are placed on trolleys in all available spaces, on public corridors of the hospital, on ward corridors and in the emergency department leading to a completely congested hospital with no patient movement to access an in-patient bed.

The levels of persistent overcrowding are having a very damaging impact on the morale of the nursing staff in the hospital who are trying their best to provide safe patient care in an extremely trying environment.

Ms Fogarty said INMO members have "repeatedly highlighted the conditions as unacceptable and dangerous for patients".

She has called on the HSE and UL Hospital Group to "take targeted measures immediately to protect working nurses in these departments and wards".

"Reassuring words are not enough, describing how bad it is on the Dooradoyle campus is not enough, we need to see lasting measures to alleviate the constant levels of overcrowding."

In response to a request for comment, UL Hospital Group said that as UHL continues to experience "very high levels of activity", members of the public are being asked to consider "all available care options" before presenting to the ED. 

"While we have seen a reduction nationally in the numbers of Covid-19 and flu patients in hospital, there are still high levels of respiratory illness in circulation and affecting our hospitals. The latest available national report shows that in the first three weeks of 2024, presentations to the ED at UHL increased by 28% on last year and emergency admissions by 17%. 

"This trend is more pronounced still among the over 75s with ED presentations having increased by 39% in the first three weeks of the year and emergency admissions by 34%."

It added that UHL is currently "at its highest state of escalation" and that surge capacity has been opened at UHL and across our hospitals. Elective activity is being reviewed "on a daily basis".

"We apologise to anyone who has had a long wait for admission to University Hospital Limerick in recent days. We thank the public for their patience and support at this time of exceptionally high demand for our services," the statement added.