INMO figures show significant increase in trolley figures last month

Nenagh Hospital. Photo © Tipp FM

New figures released by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organization show TUH in Clonmel had a total of 233 patients on trolleys for the month of January, up 49 from January 2022.

Staff at Nenagh Hospital cared for 150 patients on trolleys last month having had none in January of 2021 or 2022.

UHL, 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 per cent 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.”