UHG is the second most overcrowded hospital in Ireland again for the second time this week according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.

There are 46 people without a proper bed today at UHG according to the INMO’s daily Trolley/Ward Watch.

This is the second time this week that University Hospital Galway has been in second place after 51 were left on trolleys on Tuesday.

The worst affected hospital today is UH Limerick with 63 patients on trolleys, and in third place is Cork University Hospital with 43.

There are a further 15 patients waiting for a bed at Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe.

In total the INMO says there are 621 people waiting for a bed in Ireland’s acute hospitals today during the worst weeks for hospital overcrowding ever recorded.

On both Monday and Tuesday there were 760 people in Irish public hospitals without a bed, the highest daily level ever seen by a significant margin.

The INMO is calling for a major incident to be declared at the worst hit hospitals, with elective procedures and non emergency appointments to be cancelled.

The union has also said that additional bed spaces need to be sourced from private, voluntary, and community sources.

“The trolley crisis is not a fact of life,” said INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha, adding, “There are simple, accepted solutions to fix it”.

“We need to keep moving to resolve this crisis. The INMO has proposed a five-point plan to alleviate pressure.”

“All of these actions could be taken today or by the end of the week at the latest.”

Other parts of the union’s plan includes confirming 2020 funding under Safe Staffing Framework, refocusing hospital capacity on dealing with emergency admissions, and sanctioning the immediate recruitment of more frontline staff.

UHG is the second most overcrowded hospital in Ireland today, getting worse after two days in a row as the third worst nationwide.

There are 51 patients without a proper bed today at UHG according to the INMO’s daily Trolley/Ward Watch, which keeps track of patients on trolleys in the A&E or packed into overcapacity wards.

For the second day in a row there are 760 patients without a proper bed at public hospitals nationwide, the same as yesterday’s record breaking level.

This is the worst level of hospital overcrowding ever seen in Ireland, breaking the previous record set on March

Back in Galway there are a further 21 patients without a bed at Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe, and after UHG and UHL the worst affected hospitals today are Cork and Letterkenny (47 each), and South Tipperary (44).

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has written to the Minister for Health calling for a major incident declaration at the worst affected hospitals, and the cancellation of all elective surgeries and non-emergency admissions.

The union also says that all nursing and midwifery posts which are awaiting sign-off in acute hospitals need to be immediately approved.

“This extreme overcrowding presents a clear danger to patients and staff alike,” said INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha.

She added that stabilising our hospital system will require “immediate political intervention” and that the longer this level of overcrowding continues, the greater the risk to patients will be.

“We have written to the minister calling for action. We need to grasp the nettle and declare a major incident, cancel electives, and immediately approve recruitment for the worst-hit hospitals.”

The INMO repeated demand for an end to the HSE’s recruitment freeze was also reiterated.