'Getting worse by the day': Overcrowding in Cork raises concern

Cork city had one hundred people waiting on trolleys for hospital treatments on Tuesday this week, The Echo has learned.

Cork’s University Hospital had the second worst overcrowding of any hospital in Ireland on Tuesday, with 73 patients on trolleys, while The Mercy Hospital had 28 patients waiting for a bed.

Cork’s overcrowding crisis came on a day which recorded the highest number of patients on trolleys in 2022, according to figures released by the body that represents nurses and midwives.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) said 669 people, including 28 children, were without a bed on Tuesday, breaking the previous worst overcrowding record for 2022 so far.

The CUH came second only to University Hospital Limerick, which had 80 people waiting for beds.

A spokesperson for the Cork area of the INMO said there had been a “winter level” of people on trolleys during the summer, and it’s getting worse every day.

“The private sector must step in now and provide further capacity,” he said. “There are only so many beds. If you started building more beds tomorrow, you still wouldn’t get there” in the short term. 

“Patients are suffering, but staff working in these Emergency Departments are under severe pressure.” 

Conditions could build to a point where staff “vote with their feet” and leave, which would worsen the crisis, warned the spokesperson.

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly had promised on the back of a HIQA report to send more specialists from the HSE to help with patient flow within the CUH. “That really has to happen immediately.” 

The INMO would welcome more links to private nursing homes and care facilities to provide beds in appropriate environments, added the spokesperson.

INMO General Secretary, Phil Ní Sheaghdha said: “It is extremely concerning but not surprising that we have 669 patients on trolleys. We have seen a 27 per cent increase of patients on trolleys in the last week.

“A range of measures must be taken now in the short to medium term including the curtailment of all non-emergency, elective care. Capacity from the private sector must be provided immediately. There needs to be a laser focus on the recruitment and retention of nurses and midwives.

“Hospitals must issue public statements encouraging people to consider alternative care pathways in the community and outline clearly what the real-time waits are to be admitted to hospital are.

“We are now calling on the Health Service Executive, Minister for Health and the Health and Safety Authority to take immediate action in the worst hit spots. The specialist teams for Cork University Hospital and University Hospital Galway must be deployed today.

“The health and safety of our members and the patients they are trying their best to care for must take priority. We know that they are currently operating in truly unsafe care environments.

“The fact of the matter is the HSE and Department of Health must do everything in their power to ensure that our hospitals are adequately staffed and that each hospital has the ability to retain staff who are currently overwhelmed by their workload.

“We cannot afford to have unacceptably high nursing staffing vacancies coupled with an overcrowding crisis “If Government and HSE are serious about keeping Irish nurses in Irish hospitals then they must take immediate action on safe staffing, fast-tracking recruitment and getting private hospitals on the pitch now,” added Mr Ní Sheaghdha.

A spokesperson for Cork University Hospital said: 

"Cork University Hospital wishes to apologise to all patients who continue to be affected by long waiting periods at the hospital's Emergency Department. The hospital has a long-standing challenge with acute inpatient bed capacity on site. This unfortunately has resulted in a large number of patients having to endure lengthy waiting times in the Emergency Department awaiting admission. Staff work very hard to provide ongoing safe care to all patients who await admission. We are working with HSE colleagues regionally and nationally to address this."