Latest figures reveal huge increase in trolley figures at Tipperary hospitals last month

Some Nenagh Hospital services to be reduced during industrial action

placeholder image — Some Nenagh Hospital services to be reduced during industrial action

New figures released by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organization (INMO) show Tipperary University Hospital in Clonmel had a total of 233 patients on trolleys for the month of January, which was an increase of 49 from January 2022.

Staff at Nenagh Hospital cared for 150 patients on trolleys last month having had none in the previous two Januarys.

University Hospital Limerick, which serves North Tipperary, Clare and Limerick experienced the highest levels of overcrowding in the first month of 2023, weighing in at 1,180 patients on trolleys and accounting for 10% of the overall figures.

Nationally, 11,289 patients went without a bed across Irish hospitals for the month, up by 2,653 on last year’s number.

INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha says a lack of adequate planning has put unnecessary stress on nurses, and described the figures as “unacceptably high.”