'CUH is busier than ever': Hospital overcrowding now worst on record

Figures compiled by Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) have shown that hospital overcrowding is now at its worst level since it started counting trolley data in 2006.

In Cork University Hospital (CUH), the INMO data shows that for the month of January 2025, there were 1,573 patients on trolleys, chairs, and in very clinically dangerous and environmentally inappropriate spaces while waiting for hospital beds. This is a 51% increase on the December 2024 figure of 1,039 at CUH.

Similarly, there were 497 patients treated on trolleys in the Mercy University Hospital Cork in the month of January, and a total of 121 patients at Bantry General Hospital.

Nationally, January 2025 saw a total of 13,972 patients on trolleys, chairs and in clinically dangerous and environmentally inappropriate spaces in hospitals across the country, according to the INMO.

Speaking to The Echo, Cork INMO representative Colm Porter said: “The numbers of patients on trolleys throughout January has been consistently, consistently high. It is busier than ever, really, in CUH at the minute. That is not just people on trolleys, it could be people on chairs or people in very clinically dangerous, environmentally inappropriate spaces in hospitals.

“For our members, the most important for them going to work is the delivery of safe patient care, in a setting that protects the patients’ health and safety but also their own health and safety.”

When asked what should message the INMO had for the new Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, Mr Porter said that reducing the trolley numbers should be at the very top of her agenda.

“One of the top priorities for her needs to be addressing the overcrowding crisis,” he said. “There needs to be a long-term solution to it. Our members accept that every winter it is going to be busier and there are going to be more people trying to access services. But the issue for them is that it feels like Groundhog Day.

“The HSE are saying they are putting solutions in place, and they have been doing so for a number of years in terms of scaling up bed capacity, within the hospitals and also in the community setting.

“The measurement of a good plan is its outcome. At the moment we are seeing more patients on trolleys than we have ever seen before.”

In response to a query from The Echo, a CUH spokesperson said: “CUH acknowledges the ongoing challenges with trolley figures and the increased demand for emergency services.

“CUH sincerely apologises to patients experiencing long waiting times and assures the public that urgent cases are prioritised.

“Staff are working tirelessly to provide safe care, and CUH continues to collaborate with HSE colleagues to address capacity issues and improve patient flow. To address the ongoing challenges, CUH will receive the highest allocation of beds nationally as part of the Government’s Acute Hospital Inpatient Bed Capacity Expansion Plan.

“CUH encourages members of the public to consider all care options, to include Southdoc, pharmacies, GPs, and injury units before attending the emergency department.”

The Echo has also contacted the HSE and the Department of Health for official comment.