Number of people on trolleys today would fill LUH twice over

 

The number of people waiting for in-patient beds across the country today would fill Letterkenny University Hospital twice over,  the INMO has confirmed.
The organization has described today as the worst ever day for trolley overcrowding since records began with a total of 760 people waiting at hospitals across the country.
There were 37 people awaiting in-patient beds at Letterkenny University Hospital this morning according to the INMO with 11 on trolleys in its Emergency Department.
The organization say that the number of patients on trolleys this morning would more than fill the largest hospital in the state, St. James (707 beds) or take more than twice the equivalent of Letterkenny University Hospital (333 beds).
University Hospital Limerick has also broken the daily record for an individual hospital, with 92 patients on trolleys. The previous highest figure was 82, also in Limerick.
The INMO is calling for a major incident protocol to be adopted across the country, as was done in March 2018. This would likely see all non-emergency admissions stopped, electives cancelled, and extra bed capacity sourced from the private and public sectors.
The union is also calling for an infection control plan, as overcrowding increases infection risks.