Over 1.7m people on trolleys since 2006

Michael Bolton

Over 1.7 million people have been on trolleys in Irish hospitals since 2006.

Figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) show 1,766,939 people have been left on trolleys in the last 20 years.

The hospital with the biggest overcrowding is University Hospital Limerick, with 194,541 people on trolleys since 2006.

Cork University Hospital has had 145,827 people on trolleys, while 123,098 people were on trolleys in University Hospital Galway in the last 20 years.

In the last decade, over one million people have been on trolleys.

Commenting on the figures, INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said: “The INMO has been counting the number of patients on trolleys, chairs or in other inappropriate bed spaces for over twenty years. In that time, our methodology has never changed.

“Since the INMO first launched TrolleyWatch in 2006, over 1.7 million people have been admitted to hospital without a bed. This problem has accelerated since 2016, as one million patients have been on a trolley in the last decade. This is a shameful statistic when you consider the amount of economic growth during this period.

“Behind every statistic is a patient who faced a lengthy wait for a bed. We know that there are so many negative health outcomes associated with being treated on a trolley. So many are sadly stripped of their dignity when being treated on an open corridor, despite our members doing their best to provide safe and timely care.

“For the health of one million people, equivalent to approximately 1 in 6 of the population, and the nurses caring for them, to be jeopardised in this way, tells us this system is failing its patients and its staff."

Stress, burnout and unsafe conditions were reported by members of the INMO in its 2026 member survey.

67 per cent stated their current staffing levels and skill mix did not meet the required clinical and patient demands in their work area, and over 39 per cent reported that their work negatively impacted their psychological wellbeing.

24 per cent reported attending their GP due to work-related stress in the past 12 months.

Of the 61 per cent of respondents who stated they had considered leaving their work area in the past month, 80 per cent reported unsafe staffing levels.