Thirteen children waiting for beds at overcrowded Irish hospitals - INMO

Thirteen children are waiting for beds in Irish hospitals today (September 12) according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO).

The INMO's latest report has revealed over 550 people are waiting for a bed across Ireland, marking an increase of 126% compared to the same day ten years prior. 

University Hospital Limerick is the worst hospital affected, with 60 patients waiting on trolleys, followed by University Hospital Galway (54 people), Cork University Hospital (53 people) and St Vincent's University Hospital (52 people). 

According to today's report, 477 patients are waiting in emergency departments, while 79 are in wards elsewhere. 

Nine children are waiting at Temple Street Children's Hospital with four at Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Crumlin. 

Just eight hospitals around the country are free from overcrowding, including Beaumont Hospital, Connolly Hospital, National Children's Hospital Tallaght, Bantry General Hospital, Mid-Western Eastern Hospital Ennis, Nenagh General Hospital, Portiuncula Hospital, and University Hospital Waterford. 

Today's figures come following the INMO's monthly Trolley Watch analysis, which recorded 9,603 admitted patients without hospital beds in August 2022, 79 of whom were children.