124 patients on trolleys in Limerick hospital

A doctor working in the overcrowded emergency department at UHL.

THERE were 124 patients waiting for beds in University Hospital Limerick (UHL) this Wednesday morning, the highest figure in the country, according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation’s (INMO).

The INMO TrolleyWatch figures show there were 63 patients, already admitted to the hospital, waiting on trolleys in the emergency department at UHL and a further 61 elsewhere in the hospital.

These are the second highest overcrowding figures ever reported at UHL, just two short of the 126 patients waiting on trolleys recorded on April 21, 2022.

Commenting on the figures, INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said: “We are seeing yet another predictable post-bank holiday surge in hospital overcrowding. Of the five bank holidays we have had so far this year, we have seen out of control numbers of patients on trolleys in the following days.

“Senior decision makers in both the HSE and Government must come together now to develop a year-round plan to tackle this crisis,” she added.

Sign up for the weekly Limerick Post newsletter
Advertisement