Cork University Hospital third most overcrowded Irish hospital in 2025

Cork University Hospital (CUH) was the third most overcrowded hospital in Ireland over the past year with 10,113 patients treated on trolleys in 2025, according to figures released by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO).

The CUH figure contributes to the nationwide total of 114,029 patients, including 1,248 children, who were admitted to hospital without a bed in 2025.

In the Mercy University Hospital in Cork, there were 2,993 patients admitted to hospital without a bed in 2025, with 650 patients admitted to hospital without a bed at Bantry General Hospital.

The INMO is calling for urgent action to address the issue of ongoing staffing shortages and unsafe conditions in hospitals across the country.

INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said: “Yet another year has passed with an unacceptably high number of patients being treated on trolleys, chairs and in other inappropriate bed spaces.

"Nurses, midwives and other healthcare professionals must not continue to shoulder public anger arising from repeated failures in planning across the health service.

“While there has been a slight reduction in the number of patients being treated in an inappropriate space in our hospitals, the reliance on surge beds, which are not properly staffed, is a cause of concern.

“There needs to be a turning point in how healthcare staffing is planned and managed, and it needs to start with an immediate filling of all funded posts while also focusing on capacity, staffing and conditions across acute and community services."

She added: “Our members are reporting that persistent staffing gaps across the public health service are undermining their ability to deliver safe and timely care.

“The continued use of trolleys and reliance on surge capacity mean that too many nurses are routinely working short staffed. In many hospitals, unfilled rosters are becoming the norm rather than the exception, creating increasingly unsafe conditions for both nurses and patients in our hospitals."