THERE were almost 200,000 admitted patients treated on trolleys, chairs, or other “inappropriate spaces” in University Hospital Limerick over the last 20 years.
The 194,541 figure was revealed at the start of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation’s (INMO) annual delegate conference in Dundalk this Wednesday (May 6).
The figure comes from an analysis by the INMO of its Trolley Watch figures, in which the union has been counting the number of patients with proper in-hospital beds since January 1, 2006, up until May 5 this year.
UHL saw by far the highest overcrowding figure, trailed by University Hospital Cork with 145,827 patients treated on trolleys and 123,098 in University Hospital Galway over the 20-year period.
The national figure for admitted patients being treated in places other than an assigned hospital bed was 1.7 million.
Marking 20 years of Trolley Watch, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation said there must be a sea change when it comes to tackling hospital overcrowding.
“Over 1.7 million people have been treated on a trolley, chairs, or in another inappropriate bed space since the union began counting trolleys in 2006. In the last decade alone, over one million people have been on trolleys,” the statement said.
INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said: “The INMO has been counting the number of patients on trolleys, chairs, or in other inappropriate bed spaces for over 220 years. In that time, our methodology has never changed.”
“Since the INMO first launched Trolley Watch in 2006, over 1.7 million people have been admitted to hospital without a bed. This problem has accelerated since 2016, as one million patients have been on a trolley in the last decade. This is a shameful statistic when you consider the amount of economic growth during this period.
“Behind every statistic is a patient who faced a lengthy wait for a bed. We know that there are so many negative health outcomes associated with being treated on a trolley. So many are sadly stripped of their dignity when being treated on an open corridor, despite our members doing their best to provide safe and timely care.
“For the health of one million people, equivalent to approximately one in 6 of the population, and the nurses caring for them, to be jeopardised in this way, tells us this system is failing its patients and its staff.”
Among the issues raised by Limerick delegates at the conference this year will be a motion calling for the HSE to “develop a bespoke electronic patient record, a system developed with critical input from frontline nurses and midwives”, INMO said.
The Limerick INMO branch was also to propose a motion that, recognising the “growing healthcare needs of persons with intellectual disability and, as a consequence, calls on the INMO to engage with the HSE to increase the number of liaison ID nursing posts, so as to ensure that the needs of these service users are appropriately met”.
According to the INMO stats, UHL was also the most overcrowded hospital in the country across this past April, with nearly 2,000 admitted patients waiting for beds – almost double the number of any other hospital.
According to INMO, there were 1,954 people treated on trolleys in UHL during the month, the worst April on record for overcrowding, with 11,175 patients waiting for hospital beds around the country.
Limerick Labour TD Conor Sheehan said that the Government’s failure to tackle overcrowding in our hospital emergency departments has led to April becoming the worst month on record for hospital overcrowding in this country.
Deputy Sheehan said: “While the additional 96-bed block at UHL has led to a modest reduction in trolley numbers in the emergency department, the fact is that there are far too many people left languishing on trolleys in our hospitals and in Limerick which is consistently the most overcrowded hospital in the country.”
“In April of this year, 1,954 people were forced to endure a wait on a trolley in University Hospital Limerick. While the site for the new hospital has been selected and acquired by the HSE, we need to see a board and chairperson appointed and then we need to see a design team selected and construction start in stages on the new site.
“There is also an issue in relation to the number of consultant posts in the Mid West, UHL has double the number of presentations as University Hospital Waterford but has 165 sanctioned and filled whole time equivalent consultant posts, as opposed to 176 in Waterford but 321 in Galway and 314 in Cork.”
HSE Mid West was contacted for comment.