545 admitted patients are waiting for beds in the nation’s hospitals according to today’s Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation(INMO) Trolley Watch. University Hospital Limerick (UHL) is by far the most overcrowded with 115 admitted patients on trolleys today – 49 of the patients have had their trolley placed in a ward to reduce the overcrowding in the ED area. 66 admitted patients are on trolleys in the ED area at UHL.
The scale of the overcrowding in UHL is highlighted as the next highest trolley count is 48 in Galway and 47 in the Mater Hospital. Four patients are reported on trolleys in Tipperary University Hospital in Clonmel today.
The Government is progressing a number of measure to address overcrowding in UHL and HIQA have been requested to carry out a clinical review to determine if the MidWest Region needs a second ED – the terms of reference for the HIQA review are to be finalised after the Department considers the report from Mr Justice Frank Clarke into the death of 16-year-old Aoife Johnston in UHL in December 2022. This report is now due at the end of May.
