No hospital bed for 12,100 patients in January

More than 12,100 patients did not have a hospital bed in January, according to figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.

The INMO said University Hospital Limerick had the highest number of patients without a bed this month at 2,073.

Cork University Hospital had the second highest figure (1,632), followed by University Hospital Galway (1,041)

Over 700 patients did not have a bed in Letterkenny University Hospital (709) and Sligo University Hospital (701).

In a statement, the INMO said: “Hundreds of people are sick enough to be admitted to hospital each day but there is no bed for them.

“Some of the care environments are totally inappropriate, in some instances the care is provided on chairs.

“It is clear that capacity in the health system isn’t sufficient. We have not seen a significant drop in the number of patients on trolleys. We need more beds and we need more patient-facing staff.”

It added: “The HSE must agree a realistic workforce plan which provides for sufficient nurses and midwives to be employed to provide safe care and plan for more beds to open.”

According to the Health Service Executive’s daily trolley figures, there are 436 patients on trollies today.