Spike in number of patients waiting for beds in Mayo University Hospital

The number of patients waiting for a bed in Mayo University Hospital rose over the weekend with 25 patients without a bed on Monday morning.

The latest trolley figures for Mayo University Hospital show that on Monday morning there were 25 patients waiting for a bed. The figures are among the highest in Ireland with only six hospitals showing more patients waiting for beds than the Castlebar hospital.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Association (INMO) Trolley Watch shows that of the 25 patients waiting for a bed in Mayo University Hospital, 13 were in the Emergency Department while 12 were in various wards throughout the hospital.

According to the trolley watch figures, Limerick University Hospital has the most patients waiting for a bed with 120 followed by Galway University Hospital with 64 patients. There are 57 patients waiting for a bed in Cork University Hospital with 35 waiting for a bed in Letterkenny University Hospital and 30 in Sligo University Hospital.

Last Wednesday, Mayo University Hospital issued a statement advising people that the Emergency Department was extremely busy and patients attending the department to expect long waiting times. At the time 24 patients were awaiting a bed in the hospital with eight of those in the Emergency Department.

In the statement, the hospital outlined that due to the pressures on the site and the lack of bed capacity, the hospital was postponing some elective procedures and urgent, time sensitive cases were to be prioritised.

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By Friday morning, the number of patients waiting for a bed in Castlebar had fallen to eleven but over the weekend, the hospital again experienced a spike in admissions resulting in 25 patients waiting for a bed on Monday morning.