Busy year for ED’s serving Tipperary

Nearly 8,000 patients have spent time on trolleys at hospitals serving County Tipperary so far this year.

According to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation 3,100 were left waiting for a bed at South Tipp General in Clonmel in the first seven months of 2017.

University Hospital Limerick – which serves North Tipperary, Limerick and Clare – was the most overcrowded with 4,782 people being cared for on trolleys or in overflow areas of wards since January.

A further 58 were left without a bed at Nenagh General.

Nationally the figures stand at more than 57,600.

INMO General Secretary Liam Doran says the latest figures are very disappointing:

Meanwhile almost 6,000 people over the age of 75 have spent more than 24 hours in emergency departments.

The HSE’s own target aims to have everyone aged 75 and older either discharged or admitted within 24 hours of registration at an ED.