Trolley watch: 665 patients waiting for beds in Irish hospitals

Michael Bolton

665 admitted patients are waiting for beds this morning in Irish hospitals, according to today’s Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) Trolley Watch.

535 patients are waiting in the emergency department, while 130 are in wards elsewhere in the hospital. The INMO is requesting that the HSE very clearly advise the public of long delays to be seen in emergency departments across all hospital sites.

Of the 665 patients waiting for beds, 106 of those patients are currently in University Hospital Limerick. 47 of those patients are in the mergency department, with 59 patients in wards elsewhere.

Cork University Hospital has 63 patients waiting on beds, with all of those patients in the emergency department. University Hospital Galway has 56 patients currently waiting on beds, with 44 of those patients in the emergency department.

St Vincent's University Hospital has 43 patients currently waiting on beds, with St James Hospital has 41 patients on trolleys.

These figures come at a time when the HSE has issued a warning over the spike in vomiting bug cases across the country, with norovirus levels at four times the level they were this time last year.