‘Grim winter ahead’ for hospitals with 'out of control' overcrowding

File image of an ambulance outside the emergency department at CUH. Picture Denis Minihane.
Some 68 patients were left waiting on trolleys in Cork University Hospital Emergency Department (ED) yesterday alone — the highest of any ED in Ireland.
A total of 30 patients were left waiting on trolleys at the Mercy University Hospital. In Bantry General Hospital, four patients were on trolleys, bringing the total in Cork to 102.
Frontline workers and patients were not alone in their frustrations amid reports of 596 patients left on trolleys across hospitals in Ireland yesterday. These included over 20 children under the age of 16.
The situation has prompted calls from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation for what they describe as “meaningful and targeted interventions to prevent another predictable winter”. They cited “out of control” overcrowding and cancellations of elective procedures among their most significant concerns.