Last month was the worst April on record for overcrowding at University Hospital Kerry.
That’s according to figures from the Irish Nurses’ and Midwives’ Organisation for April.
It shows the number of people waiting on trolleys at UHK has jumped by almost 300% in a decade.
INMO general secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdh, who’s from Ventry, says April is a mild month and the number of people being treated on trolleys is inexcusable.
Nationally, 11,175 patients were admitted to hospital without a bed during April, the highest figure for the month since records began.
Of these, 365 were waiting on trolleys at University Hospital Kerry throughout April.
That’s an increase of 46.5% when compared to the same month last year, when 249 people were waiting for a bed at UHK.
The figure stood at 325 in 2024, there were 182 patients without a bed in 2023, and a further 166 people waited on trolleys in UHK during April of 2022.
Back in 2016, 92 patients waited for a bed in University Hospital Kerry during the fourth month of the year.
When compared with this year, it represents a jump of almost 300% in the decade.
