2022 Portlaoise hospital trolley figures almost double those of 2012

Portlaoise hospital trolley figures have the potential to double in the first weeks of January, a nursing body has warned.

The HSE yesterday announced that visitor restrictions were being imposed at the Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise due to high levels of flu and Covid-19. 

Now the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation(INMO) is warning that overcrowding in hospitals is “extremely concerning” nationwide. 

INMO figures reveal there were nine people without a bed in Portlaoise Hospital this morning. In the Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore, the figure was four while in Naas General Hospital it was 15 and at St Luke’s General Hospital in Kilkenny there were 30 people without proper beds. 

The INMO's annual figures reveal 1,054 people were on trolleys or without proper beds at Portlaoise this year, up from 549 last year and 539 ten years ago in 2012. Although doubtless little comfort to those on trolleys and working in the hospital, the 2022 figure is well below the peak recorded in Portlaoise in 2016 when 3,364 went without proper beds. 

In 2022 in Tullamore 1,447 patients went without a proper bed, down from 2,323 last year but up from 1,303 in 2012. In Naas there were 3,345 this year, up from 2,116 last year and the figure of 2,304 ten years ago in 2012. In Kilkenny, some 6,087 people went without proper hospital beds this year, up from 3,195 last year and greatly higher than the 695 recorded ten years ago in 2012. 

The INMO have revealed that 11,842 patients were admitted to hospital without a bed in December nationally.

Over 121,318 patients, including 2,777 children, went without a bed in Irish hospitals in 2022. The worst year for hospital overcrowding on record.

Visitor restrictions introduced at Portlaoise Hospital

INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said: “Our members have spent this year working in a constant state of crisis. Nurses are unfortunately ending this year how they started it ­— firefighting intolerable overcrowding coupled with highly transmissable viruses and infections. INMO members in triage and emergency departments in Ireland’s busiest hospitals are highlighting how the conditions are comprising patient safety.

“570 patients are without a bed in Irish hospitals today, we know from experience that in the first weeks of January that trolley figures could have the potential to nearly double. The State cannot walk into the next week unprepared for what could be a severe overcrowding crisis," she said. 

“We have had silent acceptance from Government and the HSE on this type of overcrowding for far too long. The HSE have acknowledged that things are going to get worse in our hospitals before they get better but have not outlined what precise supports will be made available to our members in the coming days and weeks ahead," Ms Ní Sheaghdha said. 

“The HSE has a duty as an employer and as a service provider to take the necessary steps to scale up capacity. The current state of our health system is extremely concerning. The INMO has called for the HSE to have a realistic plan. We cannot allow a drift into this dangerous situation emerging across the country,” she concluded.