UHL sees 'worst day for overcrowding' in any Irish hospital as 150 left on trolleys

University Hospital Limerick has made history, as 150 patients have been left without a hospital bed, making it the worst day for overcrowding in any Irish hospital.

This Wednesday, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) said they have never seen figures this high, since they began counting trolley numbers in 2006. 

They have called for measures to be put in place in the hospital to improve patient flow.

INMO assistant director of industrial relations for the Midwest and Western regions, Mary Fogarty, said they have seen overcrowding records broken three times in the space of two weeks in University Hospital Limerick.

"Since the beginning of January over 2,573 patients have been admitted to UHL without a bed," she said.

"These patients, no matter what their condition is, are placed on trolleys in all available spaces, on public corridors of the hospital, on ward corridors and in the emergency department leading to a completely congested hospital with no patient movement to access an in-patient bed."

By comparison the next highest on the list, Cork University Hospital, has 60 patients on trolleys this Wednesday.

"The HSE and UHL Hospital Group must take targeted measures immediately to protect working nurses in these departments and wards," Ms Fogarty continued.

"Reassuring words are not enough, describing how bad it is on the Dooradoyle campus is not enough, we need to see lasting measures to alleviate the constant levels of overcrowding.

"When overcrowding is out of control it is simply impossible to maintain patient safety and dignity."