Worst-ever April for hospital overcrowding with 1,829 awaiting beds in hospitals serving Tipperary

10,229 admitted patients were forced to wait without hospital beds in April 2019 according to a new monthly analysis by the INMO. Of those, 1,829 were waiting for beds in South Tipperary General Hospital and University Hospital Limerick, which serves North Tipperary.

The figures are the highest ever number of patients on trolleys in April, an 8% increase on April last year and a 125% increase on April 2006, when figures began.

Among the 10,229 patients were 106 children.

The worst-affected hospitals last month were:

• University Hospital Limerick: 1,206 patients

• Cork University Hospital: 826 patients

• University Hospital Galway: 683 patients

• South Tipperary General Hospital: 623 patients

• Tallaght University Hospital: 566 patients

INMO general secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha said:

“This is the second month in 2019 where over 10,000 patients have been forced to wait without a bed. The crisis is without question worsening. Overcrowding hits two main groups directly: those who depend on public health services and those who work in them, providing the safest care they can in these conditions.

“We started the trolley count over a decade ago because of unacceptable overcrowding. The problem has more than doubled since then.”