There was a 19% decrease in the number of people waiting on trolleys at University Hospital Kerry this month.
Figures from the Irish Nurses’ and Midwives’ Organisation show there were over 230 patients waiting on trolleys at UHK during February.
Nationally, almost 11,000 (10,991) patients were admitted to hospital without a bed during February.
Of these, 233 were waiting on trolleys at University Hospital Kerry throughout the second month of the year.
That’s a drop of 19% when compared to the previous year, when 289 people were waiting for a bed at UHK during February.
The figure stood at 228 in 2022, while there were 88 people without a bed in 2021 and a further 449 people waited on trolleys in UHK during February of 2020; this was the highest figure recorded for February since records began in 2006.
INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha, who’s from Ventry, says it’s clear that most hospitals are operating at over 100% occupancy meaning that patients are being cared for in all available spaces which is unsafe.
She says if there’s any hope of this being turned around, then safe staffing must be the number one priority.
