Irish Nurses and Midwives are facing a “nightmare before Christmas” as overcrowding issues loom with over 500 patients awaiting trolleys, according to the INMO.
Earlier this week the INMO’s Trolley Watch recorded the highest number since the pandemic began, with 534 patients on trolleys.
Letterkenny University Hospital was consistently one of the most overcrowded in the state this week, with a total of 247 patients waiting on a bed there in the first five days of this week alone.
With the impending Omicron wave of Covid-19 threatening to overwhelm ICUs, it’s been suggested that private hospitals help to pick up the slack.
Phil Ni Sheaghdha, the general secretary of the INMO says it’s difficult to get support from the private sector when it’s needed:
