One hundred and twenty admitted patients were on trolleys in University Hospital Limerick (UHL) yesterday (Tuesday Nov5th). 61 admitted patients were on trolleys in the Emergency Department and 59 admitted patients at UHL were accommodated by placing their trolleys in some ward of the hospital. The UHL Trolley figure is far higher than the second and third worst trolley count – 77 at Cork University Hospital and 50 in University Hospital Galway.
Overcrowding at UHL has been the focus of much investigation in recent years as patient care has been compromised, elective care has been canceled at times and some patients are reluctant to attend the ED due to overcrowding and the attendant delays. The HSE took over the 50 Bed Community Nursing Unit in Nenagh earlier this year to provide extra subacute beds to help alleviate overcrowding in UHL. Tipperary University Hospital in Clonmel reports 6 patients on Trolleys as of 8am today.
Nationally there 594 admitted patients waited for beds in the nation’s hospitals yesterday, according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.
