Worst October on record for overcrowding at Irish hospitals

Last month was the worst October on record for hospital overcrowding nationally, with Cork University Hospital (CUH) seeing 1,215 patients treated on trolleys.

A further 516 patients were treated on trolleys in Mercy University Hospital and 146 in Bantry General Hospital last month.

Trolley figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) show that nationally, 12,672 patients were treated in corridors, on chairs, or in other inappropriate locations in acute hospitals.

CUH being the second-most overcrowded hospital in Ireland — behind just University Hospital Limerick — comes amid ongoing concerns about staffing constraints impacting the ability to treat patients being highlighted by the hospital’s chief executive officer and clinical director.

So far this year, 13,593 patients have been treated on trolleys in Cork hospitals, an 18% increase from the same time last year, and already close to the 2025 total of 13,756.

INMO general secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said: “Every single patient who is treated on a trolley or chair can expect a worse health outcome than those who are lucky enough to be treated on a bed.

“It is simply disgraceful that patients are being left to languish for hours or days in brightly-lit corridors without privacy or any comfort, while the HSE has made the decision to halt recruitment into existing vacant posts that would allow them to increase bed capacity and expand services.

“This is a complete crisis, with higher numbers of patients than ever being completely let down by the health service.

“But rather than take steps to improve this situation, the Government and the HSE are implementing measures that are guaranteed to make it worse.”