The INMO says the HSE must confirm that it is taking all steps to ensure that the provision of safe emergency care is currently the priority in the system.
It comes as the number of patients without beds in Irish hospitals hit 750 this morning, 91 of them in the North West.
University Hospital Limerick accounted for the largest number of patients waiting for beds, with 125, followed by University Hospital Galway with 75.
There were 47 awaiting beds at Letterkenny University Hospital, 17 on Emergency Department trolleys, and 44 in Sligo.
That’s a North West total of 91.
Today a statement from Letterkenny University Hospital said that the Emergency Department is extremely busy with high numbers of people attending the department who need to be admitted to hospital for ongoing treatment.
Last week LUH had 1,089 attendances at ED with over half of those self-referring. We continue to request that people only attend the Emergency Department at the hospital if it is an emergency situation. For non-urgent conditions please attend your GP in the first instance and please consider all care options.
The hospital is advising that patients who attend ED for routine and non-urgent treatment will experience very long waiting times as those patients who are more acutely unwell will be seen first.
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LUH statement in full –
Media Statement
Letterkenny University Hospital is extremely busy with long wait times in the Emergency Department
12 January 2026
The Emergency Department at Letterkenny University Hospital (LUH) is extremely busy with high numbers of people attending the department who need to be admitted to hospital for ongoing treatment.
Last week LUH had 1,089 attendances at ED with over half of those self-referring. We continue to request that people only attend the Emergency Department at the hospital if it is an emergency situation. For non-urgent conditions please attend your GP in the first instance and please consider all care options.
The hospital is advising that patients who attend ED for routine and non-urgent treatment will experience very long waiting times as those patients who are more acutely unwell will be seen first.
As always, people who do require emergency care are encouraged to attend EDs where they will be prioritised.
The hospital acknowledges that these delays are very difficult for patients and their families and apologises for the inconvenience and distress these delays cause.
The hospital is committed to treating everyone who presents at the Emergency Department; people who are seriously injured or ill are assessed and treated as a priority and those who do not require urgent care may be waiting longer.
For mild illness or non-urgent conditions there are a number of treatment options open to you – being prepared and knowing where to go will mean that you will get treated more quickly and will ease pressures on the healthcare system. Your local out of hours GP service and pharmacies are open for expert advice and treatment. Many GP’s across the country are providing additional in-person sessions for respiratory/acute consultations, details of these additional clinics can be found on their websites or by contacting the practice directly.
Anyone with breathing difficulties or chest pain should attend the emergency department for treatment or call 112/999 in an emergency, and patients with non-life-threatening conditions should seek healthcare in the community.
All available beds in the hospital are in use. As of this morning there were 16 patients on trolleys in the Emergency Department awaiting admission to an inpatient bed, whilst other patients are being accommodated in escalation areas throughout the hospital. Patients are facing long waiting times to be admitted from the Emergency Department to a bed on a ward. Every effort is being made to discharge patients who are ready to go home so that beds will become available for patients who need to be admitted, at the earliest opportunity.All visitors to the hospital will be required to practice good hand hygiene and use hand gel regularly, face masks are available for use throughout the hospital.
People should check the HSE website for useful advice on common illnesses such as colds, coughs, flu, earache and sore throats and keeping well.
Keeping up to date with your vaccines is the most important thing you can do to avoid serious illness from flu and COVID-19. Find your nearest clinic here.
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INMO statement –
759 patients have been admitted to hospital without a bed today according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.
Commenting on the TrolleyWatch figures, INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said:
“Our hospitals are incredibly busy today with patients on trolleys across most hospital sites. The Health Service Executive must confirm that it is taking all steps to ensure that the provision of safe emergency care is currently the priority in the system. With activity levels as high as they are, we assume that all non-urgent elective activity has been cancelled for the coming week.
“As well as over 759 patients on trolleys, there are a high number of patients on so-called surge beds, according to the HSE’s own data. This is masking the true scale of overcrowding in our hospitals. Patients being treated in these unstaffed areas are often without access to basic equipment such as oxygen and suction in totally inappropriate spaces within our hospitals.
“The HSE needs to be upfront with the public and its workforce this week and explain what measures it is taking to curb the worst of this entirely predictable overcrowding crisis, particularly in the West, North-West, Mid-West and South-West.”
