With a month left in the year, the INMO has said that 2019 has broken the record for most patients on hospital trolleys in any year since records began.
108,364 people were admitted to hospitals without beds being assigned to them so far this year – breaking 2018’s record high of 108,227.
A breakdown of the figures reveals that hospitals serving Co Tipperary were among the top four most under-pressure hospitals this year.
University Hospital Limerick was in the first place. The INMO maintains that 12,810 people have waited there on trolleys or on chairs to-date. South Tipperary General Hospital was in fourth place, with 6,383 having waited on trolleys.
‘hospitals should be a place of safety and care – not danger’
The INMO has said the figures show a ‘wildly bureaucratic health service, which is failing staff and patients alike’.
The organisation believes the problem can only be sorted out by adding beds and growing community care.
The INMO has written to the health and safety authorities to try to force a change, saying that ‘hospitals should be a place of safety and care – not danger’.
