University Hospital Limerick (UHL), serving the medical needs of North Co. Tipperary, has continued to be the most overcrowded hospital in the country, so far this year, in what the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has described as the “worst year on record for hospital overcrowding”.
According to the group’s trolley watch figures, over 121,526 patients nationally have gone without a hospital bed in the year 2023 to date; the highest portion of which, 21,141, were in University Hospital, Limerick.
Across the country some 3,450 children have also been on trolleys so far this year, representing an increase of 24% on the previous year.
This morning, Tuesday December 19th, there were 517 people waiting for beds; again forced to remain on trolleys in hospitals across the country.
The five most overcrowded hospitals in 2023, in Ireland to date were:
- University Hospital Limerick with 21,141 patients,
- Cork University Hospital with 12,487 patients,
- University Hospital Galway with 8,914 patients,
- Sligo University Hospital with 8,094 patients,
- St. Vincent’s University Hospital with 6,555 patients.
This overcrowding comes at a time when the HSE have decided to implement a staffing recruitment freeze, which will further demoralise an already exhausted workforce.
The HSE themselves have acknowledged that wait times are far too high for those on trolleys in emergency departments.
Compared to the HSE figures which only count patients who are physically in the emergency department, the INMO figures published on their website weekly, from Monday to Friday, give a more accurate depiction of how many people are on trolleys and chairs right throughout our public hospitals.
The highest level of overcrowding recorded by the INMO was 760 patients record on January 6th 2020.
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