INO says 386 patients now on A&E trolleys

A total of 386 patients is being treated on trolleys in hospitals throughout the State, according to the latest figures provided…

A total of 386 patients is being treated on trolleys in hospitals throughout the State, according to the latest figures provided by the Irish Nurses' Organisation (INO).

Tallaght hospital currently has 51 people on trolleys, the highest of any hospital. Elsewhere in Dublin, 25 people are being treated on trolleys at both St Columcille's hospital and Beaumont Hospital.

There are 22 patients in the same situation at both Naas and St James's hospitals.

The Mater hospital is treating 17 people on trolleys, while 12 are being treated on trolleys at Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown, the INO said. St Vincent's hospital on the south side of the city has 11 people on trolleys today.

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Outside the capital, Cavan hospital has the highest number of patients on trolleys at 24. At Sligo hospital, there are 22 patients being treated on trolleys, and there are 21 in Limerick hospital.

Figures for other hospitals include University Hospital Galway (18); Wexford General (15); South Tipperary (14); Letterkenny (14); Our Lady of Lourdes, Drogheda (10); Portiuncula (8), Mayo (6), Ennis (7) and Navan (2).

In recent days, the INO said the number of patients being treated on trolleys had reached well over 400, the highest since early last year despite a 10-point plan to tackle A&E overcrowding.

A number of hospitals dispute the figures provide by the INO.

However, it is believed this is because of timing differences over when the A&E patients are counted.

A woman who had spent eight days on a trolley up to yesterday in the A&E unit of Tallaght hospital in Dublin waiting for a bed is understood to be still on the trolley today.

A spokeswoman for the hospital was unable to provide up-to-date information on the woman's situation earlier today, but it is understood she was being seen by a consultant and was still in A&E.

Bernadette Higgins (43), from Clondalkin, told The Irish Timesshe came to the hospital's A&E unit last Wednesday following treatment in the Warfarin Clinic for a clot on her lung. Warfarin is an anti-clotting drug.

The hospital said yesterday she was receiving all necessary treatment.