There were over 1,000 patients on trolleys at UHG this month, making it the third most overcrowded hospital in Ireland, and its worst March on record.
INMO figures for the month show that 1,048 patients were admitted to University Hospital Galway, with no bed available for them.
At Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe there were a further 207 people on trolleys this month, the third worst March on record for the hospital.
INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said, “This has been the worst March for overcrowding since the INMO began counting trolleys in 2006.”
“In some hospitals the level of overcrowding we have seen has been out of control and cannot be allowed to continue into the spring and summer months.”
There have been a total of 12,943 patients treated on trolleys or chairs in Irish hospitals this month, including 447 children.
Analysis by the INMO shows that over 69,417 people have been without a bed in the period covered by the HSE’s Winter Plan.
“It is time for the HSE and Department of Health to devise a multi-annual plan as to how we tackle overcrowding.”
“It is clear that it is no longer just a winter overcrowding crisis but a year-long one,” Phil Ní Sheaghdha said.
“The State cannot expect nurses to bear the brunt of the crisis and work at full tilt in constantly overcrowded and understaffed wards year-round.”
“Nurses want to be able to carry out the high quality care that they have been trained to do but cannot provide in these circumstances.”
A change in mindset is needed, she said, from the decision makers in hospital management, up to senior levels of the HSE.
