Trolley Watch: 627 patients waiting for hospital beds

Michael Bolton

627 admitted patients are waiting for beds this morning, according to today’s  Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation INMO Trolley Watch,

Of those 627 patients, 494 patients are waiting in the emergency department, while 133 are in wards elsewhere in the hospital.

The hospital with the highest amount of patients is University Hospital Limerick, with 97 patients waiting for a bed. Of those 97 patients, 47 are in the emergency department, while 50 other patients are in ward's elsewhere.

This is followed by Cork University Hospital with 76 patients waiting for a bed, which includes 61 patients ion the emergency department, while University Hospital Galway has 55 patients without a bed.

The INMO Trolley Watch counts the number of patients who have been admitted to acute hospitals, but who are waiting for a free bed.

These patients are often being treated on trolleys in corridors, "but they may also be on chairs, in waiting rooms, or simply wherever there’s space". The INMO started Trolley Watch in 2004.