The number of patients currently awaiting beds is the highest since the pandemic began.
The current rate of overcrowding at Cork University Hospital (CUH) is “out of control and extremely dangerous”, according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO).
In a statement, the union said the number of patients waiting for beds at CUH on Tuesday morning was the highest since the start of the pandemic.
It stated that 63 patients were waiting on trolleys in the Cork hospital, with a total of 332 waiting for beds in hospitals around the country.
The INMO’s total trolley figures for the month of August also reveal that 6,367 patients were awaiting beds throughout Ireland in the last month, which is more than double the number recorded for August 2020.
The highest trolley figures for August 2021 were in University Hospital Limerick at 823, followed by Cork University Hospital with 738 and University Hospital Galway at 563.
Overcrowding at CUH reaches pandemic peak with 63 patients on trolleys today. National trolley total for August 2021 is 6,367. Read our press release here: https://t.co/RD0RsGQELQ pic.twitter.com/EEDfjBgIqS
— Irish Nurses & Midwives Organisation (@INMO_IRL) August 31, 2021
INMO Industrial Relations Officer for CUH Liam Conway described the situation as “out of control and extremely dangerous”.
“The rate of overcrowding in CUH is now so high that we can’t maintain the proper infection control measures needed to prevent the spread of Covid,” he said.
“There is an urgent need for additional beds and the appropriate staffing increases in ED [emergency department] and throughout the hospital, but we also need more capacity in the community so people can be discharged at the right time and space is used properly.
“This is very quickly approaching the record overcrowding we saw before the pandemic, but Covid is very much still an issue.”
Conway added that the INMO’s members and their patients “are being put at risk” and said “it cannot be allowed to continue”.
INMO Director of Industrial Relations Tony Fitzpatrick said the Government’s reopening plans for society, which are set to be announced later on Tuesday, should take into account healthcare staff.
“This situation is completely unacceptable. Government plans for opening back up society need to include extra healthcare capacity and supports for our healthcare staff, who are burnt out and exhausted,” he said.
“Increasing pressure on our members now without proper measures to deal with the demands on the health service is going to drive nurses and midwives out of their professions and out of the country.”
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
