Patients packed in like sardines

Patients were packed like sardines into two Emergency Departments of Galway’s public hospitals this week as the number of people waiting on trolleys soared past 750 so far for February.

Management and nurses both issued warnings in separate statements as University Hospital Galway treated 62 patients on trolleys on Tuesday while waiting for beds to become available – the highest so far in 2023.

On Monday, Portiuncula University Hospital also set a record for patients on trolleys for 2023, when 30 were recorded in the Emergency Department (ED) and wards waiting for beds. That had reduced to three on Tuesday.

Analysis of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) Trolley Watch figures show 542 patients waited on trolleys for a bed to become available at UHG over 14 days in February.

That’s an average of 41 per day and does not include weekends or the Bank Holiday Monday.

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