4,700 on trolleys in Galway’s public hospitals in first six months

Nearly 4,700 patients were left waiting on trolleys at University Hospital Galway and Portiuncula in Ballinasloe in the first six months of this year.

Figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation – which records the ‘Trolley Watch’ numbers at each public hospital in the country – show that between January and the end of June, there were 3,486 patients on trolleys or chairs in UHG.

That was the third highest figure for any public hospital in the country.

The figure is also up by almost one quarter (22.5%) on the same period in 2016, when it stood at 2,845.

Trolley Watch is based on Emergency Department admissions who are left waiting on trolleys and includes ‘Ward Watch’ (those on trolleys or chairs in wards in excess of that ward’s capacity).

Portiuncula Hospital recorded a figure of 1,210 for the same period.

The highest level of overcrowding in the country for the six-month period was in University Hospital Limerick at 4,120, followed by Cork University Hospital at 3,631.

Nationally, there were 51,321 patients on trolleys in public hospitals during the half-year period.

According to the INMO, the figures confirm there is an ever-growing demand for inpatient services.

“Our health service continues to suffer from inadequate capacity (beds and staff). Demand for emergency admissions, even in the peak summer period, continues to grow.”

Meanwhile, the figures for June 2017 show that UHG was the second most overcrowded hospital in the country.

There were 566 people admitted for care, but left waiting on trolleys at the hospital in June, just behind University Hospital Limerick which had 640 patients on trolleys. For comparison, Cork University Hospital had 469 on trolleys and UH Waterford had 406.

The figures also show that Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe had 89 patients on trolleys in June.