641 patients are without a bed in Irish hospitals today according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation. University Hospital Limerick reports 118 admitted patients on trolleys today – 52 are in the Emergency Departments and 66 are accommodated by placing their trolley in some ward of the hospital. Tipperary University Hospital in Clonmel reports 21 patients on trolleys today.
98 patients are on trolleys or chairs in Cork University Hospital, which is a new record for overcrowding in CUH. The INMO says the number of patients being treated on trolleys, chairs and other inappropriate bed spaces in Cork University Hospital is gravely concerning. Mercy Hospital in Cork reports 14 patients on trolleys.
Separately Tipperary Cllr Seamus Morris is asking the Fire Service of Limerick County Council to carry out a safety inspection of the Emergency Department of University Hospital Limerick (and all adjoining areas used as overflow relief wards) on health and safety grounds. The Councillor alleges that up to 180 patients were in the acute and overflow wards last night reaching the types of numbers that he says are “unsafe for staff, patients, and patients’ families.”
The Councillor is a member of the HSE West Health Forum which enables councillors to engage directly with officials from the HSE in the region.
