There was almost a 30% increase in the number of patients waiting on trolleys in University Hospital Kerry in February, compared to the same month last year.
That’s according to figures from the Irish Nurses’ and Midwives’ Organisation.
They show almost 300 patients were waiting on trolleys in UHK during the second month of the year.
Nationally, 11,318 people were admitted to hospital without a bed during February.
Of these, 296 were waiting on trolleys at University Hospital Kerry throughout the month.
That’s an increase of 27% when compared to the previous year (2024), when 233 people were waiting for a bed at UHK during the month of February.
The figure stood at 289 in 2023, while there were 228 people without a bed in 2022 and a further 88 people waited on trolleys in UHK during February of 2021.
INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha, who is from Ventry, says the levels of overcrowding in February were completely unacceptable.
She says there must be a change in mindset in how the overcrowding crisis is approached across senior decision-makers from hospital management to HSE senior management levels.
