Last month saw record levels of overcrowding at University Hospital Kerry during the month of June.
There was almost a 40% increase in the number of people waiting on trolleys at UHK in June this year, when compared to the same month last year.
Figures from the Irish Nurses’ and Midwives’ Organisation show there were over 370 patients waiting on trolleys at UHK last month.
Nationally, over 9,437 patients were admitted to hospital without a bed during June.
Of these, 376 were waiting on trolleys at University Hospital Kerry throughout last month – the highest number since records began in 2006.
It’s a rise of over 37% when compared to the previous year (2023), when 274 people were waiting for a bed at UHK during the month of June.
The figure stood at 345 in 2022, while there were 50 people without a bed in 2021 and a further 56 people waited on trolleys in UHK during June of 2020.
Back in 2007, just four patients waited on trolleys in UHK throughout the whole month.
INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha, who’s from Ventry, says the Government must prioritise investment in building and scaling-up capacity to meet demand, adding this can only be done by increasing bed capacity and also employing nurses to staff these beds.
She says the HSE’s recruitment freeze is making it harder to provide safe and timely care as it is becoming more difficult to fill rosters when staffing is so short.
