There was almost a 10% increase in the number of patients waiting on trolleys in University Hospital Kerry in January, compared to the same month last year.
That’s according to figures from the Irish Nurses’ and Midwives’ Organisation.
They show almost 390 patients were waiting on trolleys in UHK during the first month of the year.
Nationally, 13,972 people were admitted to hospital without a bed during January.
Of these, 389 were waiting on trolleys at University Hospital Kerry throughout the month.
That’s a drop of 9.5% when compared to the previous year (2024), when 355 people were waiting for a bed at UHK during the month of January.
The figure stood at 411 in 2023, while there were 227 people without a bed in 2022 and a further 125 people waited on trolleys in UHK during January of 2021.
INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha, who is from Ventry, says so few measures were taken to reduce overcrowding in January, despite the very clear risks for injury and illness across the country.
She says their members are exhausted and demoralised, adding it’s an extremely dangerous and disappointing start to 2025.
