Over 4,800 patients have been on trolleys since the election was called - INMO

Eva Osborne

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has called on political parties to put forward solutions that will lead to a permanent reduction in the number of patients being treated on trolleys, chairs, and other inappropriate bed spaces in Irish hospitals.

4,862 patients have been on trolleys since the election was called, the INMO said, and 490 patients were on trolleys on Thursday morning.

INMO general secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said: “The staffing and capacity crisis in our hospitals is a persistent and unrelenting issue.

"As voters turn their minds to what the next five years will look like for our country, political parties who seek to be in Government must outline what exactly they are going to do to permanently reduce the number of patients on trolleys.

“Too many people are being treated on a trolley in hospitals right across the country. The medical evidence is clear, if a patient spends more than six hours on a trolley then their long-term health outcomes are impacted."

Ní Sheaghdha said it could not be clearer that the State’s in-patient bed capacity must be improved "in tandem with safe levels of nurses and midwives" to deliver safe care and treatment.

"Political parties must focus the delivery of additional bed capacity and put on the record if they will end the extremely limiting caps on recruitment."

All political parties must prioritise the passing of the Patient Safety (Licensing) Bill which would give HIQA the powers to ensure its recommendations are being enacted by individual hospitals and healthcare settings it inspects, the INMO said.

“The provision of safe and timely healthcare must not become the forgotten issue of this election.”