Overcrowding worsens at Naas Hospital in April
357 admitted with no bed
A total of 357 people were admitted to Naas Hospital last month without a bed being immediately available.
The figure is the highest April number since 2019 when 432 people were without a bed on admission that April.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives organisation gathers information about hospital overcrowding from public facilities across the country.
At Portlaoise Hospital, 98 people had no bed last month and again this is the highest April figure since 2019 when 197 people had no bed on admission.
The reverse was the case at Tullamore Hospital. There was no overcrowding at all last month - compared with a figure of 313 in five years ago.
Yet again the most overcrowded facility was University Hospital Limerick where 1,971 patients were without a bed, followed by Galway University Hospital (1,208), Cork University Hospital (1096),St Vincent’s University Hospital (650) and Letterkenny University Hospital (594).
Nationally 11,070 patients, including 258 children, were admitted to hospital without a bed in April.
INMO general secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said: “The fact that we are seeing this level of overcrowding in April is clear that the HSE have not learned any lessons when it comes to reducing the number of patients on trolleys.
“The number of patients admitted without a bed only went below 400 on any given day on one occasion, and over 600 patients were on trolleys on five occasions over the course of the month. By any standard this is unacceptable but to see this type of overcrowding during a month when it is traditionally quieter is a clear indicator that the HSE’s current plans are not working.”
She claimed the HSE’s recruitment moratorium is making it impossible to staff any ward safely or to expand nursing services into the community to develop the much needed services set out in Sláintecare.”