Almost 600 patients waiting on hospital trolleys, nurses say

There are almost 600 people, deemed to require admission to a hospital, waiting on trolleys in emergency departments or on wards on Monday, nurses have said.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) said there were 71 patients in need of admission queuing for a bed at University Hospital Galway. The nurses' union said there were 38 patients in the emergency department at Galway waiting for a bed and 33 other patients waiting in wards.

Overall the INMO said there were 595 patients deemed by doctors to need admission waiting for beds in hospitals across the country on Monday.

The INMO said there were 49 patients waiting for a bed at Cork University Hospital and 46 queuing for beds at Letterkenny University Hospital and University Hospital Limerick.

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The INMO said there were 44 patients waiting fora bed at University Hospital Waterford.

Last week the INMO said insufficient hospital beds, overcrowding and chronic understaffing were leaving patients at “grave risk” .

The INMO said there were not enough beds for the 11,452 patients in Irish hospitals who had to spend time on trolleys in emergency departments or on wards in October.

The INMO said the numbers on trolleys in October was the second highest monthly figure since it began its daily assessment of the issue. It said the highest month on record was January 2018 at 12,395.