Cork University Hospital (CUH) recorded the second-highest number patients on trolleys in January this year, with more than 12% of the total trolley figure for the month recorded in Cork.

1,145 patients were left on trolleys at CUH, while 308 patients spent time on trolleys in Mercy University Hospital (MUH) and 91 in Bantry General Hospital.

Nationally 11,289 patients spent time on trolleys in January. University Hospital Limerick was the worst-affected hospital in the country - with a figure of 1180 patients.

INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha blamed a 'lack of adequate planning' for putting 'unnecessary stress on nurses and the patients they are trying to provide care for throughout the month of January'.

"The number of patients on trolleys in wards outside our emergency departments have been unacceptably high," she said. 

"This practice should not be allowed to continue as a measure to try take pressure off our emergency departments.

“According to two recent opinion polls, over 75% of people would not visit an Emergency Department. The strategy of telling people to not attend hospital will have knock-on effects across the health service for months to come.

"We cannot continue to accept the wait until things get unbearably bad approach before an attempt is made to lessen the pressure on our public hospital system."

Ms Ní Sheaghdha said nurses and their patients 'deserve better than this'.

The January figures she a 53% increase in patients on trolleys in CUH since January 2022’s number of 750. Bantry General Hospital has seen a 225% increase on 2022’s figure of 28, while the MUH saw a 35% decrease in 2022’s figure of 472.