INMO urges politicians to directly intervene in trolley crisis as over 650 wait for beds

A nurses union is calling for direct ministerial intervention to tackle Ireland's trolley crisis. 

The call comes as the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) records 654 patients waiting on trolleys across the country today (Wednesday March 23). 

The group yesterday (Tuesday March 22) reported the highest number of patients on trolleys since the beginning of the pandemic (660), amid news of 23,000 new cases of Covid-19. 

INMO General Secretary, Phil Ní Sheaghdha, said, "After record overcrowding in our hospitals yesterday, there has been no let-up in pressure in our hospitals. With nearly 1,400 Covid cases in our hospitals as well as the huge levels of overcrowding, it is not acceptable to our members that there has not been direct intervention from government to alleviate this problem. 

"Our members have been sounding the alarm to Government every day about the chronic overcrowding. The situation we now find ourselves in deserves immediate political intervention. It is not good enough for members of Government to comment on the situation our members find themselves in, we need to see direct action that will ease the pressure starting with the curtailing of non-emergency elective activity." 

660 patients are on trolleys today coupled with thousands of patients in hospital with COVID-19

We are calling for:
Masks to be introduced in indoor and crowded settings
For the Minister for Health to declare a national emergency in our hospitals

https://t.co/vkcmffF91i pic.twitter.com/mvt7Kfg6wg

— Irish Nurses & Midwives Organisation (@INMO_IRL) March 22, 2022

The most overcrowded hospitals in the country today include University Hospital Limerick (UHL), Letterkenny University Hospital (LUH), Cork University Hospital (CUH), University Hospital Galway (UHG), and St Luke's General Hospital in Kilkenny (SLGH).  

Ms Ní Sheaghdha mentioned the INMO is particularly concerned about the situation in UHL, where 100 people are currently on trolleys waiting for beds for the second time in two months. 

She said, "Overcrowding adds stress for staff and worsens patient care. It is high-risk in normal times, but even more so during a pandemic. The INMO is once again calling on HIQA to urgently investigate the overcrowding issue in the hospital and make recommendations. 

"INMO members from emergency departments across the country met Minister Donnelly two weeks ago to outline what steps need to be taken to alleviate the enormous pressure they are under. The Minister must take action today." 

The INMO yesterday called for the return of face masks and for Health Minister Stephen Donnelly to declare a national emergency in Irish hospitals.