The number of people waiting on trolleys in UHK in December increased by nearly 40%.
This information is contained in the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation’s trolley watch analysis for last month.
During December, 193 people waited on trolleys in University Hospital Kerry. This is a 38% increase on the same month in 2020, when 140 patients had to wait for beds.
Since the INMO began monitoring trolley numbers in 2006, there have been four- and fivefold increases in the number of people waiting on trolleys in UHK. In particular, 2019 saw a large number of people waiting for beds in UHK, including 315 during the month of December alone.
INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha says nationally the number of patients on trolleys has risen by 31% during the second year of a pandemic. The Ventry woman says there are immediate, short-term changes which can be made, including caring for non-emergency patients in the private sector and an immediate review of post-hospital discharge care to lessen pressure on acute public hospitals.
See the figures here: Monthly Comparison_December_2006 to 2021
