INMO trolley watch figures continue to rise at Mayo University Hospital, with a total of 34 patients now waiting for a bed. 

Today, (Tuesday, January 13), sees sixteen patients awaiting a bed in the emergency department and a further eighteen in wards elsewhere. 

Commenting on the trolley watch figures, INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said: “Yet again, we are seeing huge numbers of patients being admitted to the hospital without a bed today. We know that when activity is this high across the system, patient and staff safety suffer. 

READ MORE: Trolley crisis at Mayo University Hospital is leading to ‘unsafe’ conditions

“INMO members have advised that they are very concerned about the age profile of patients being admitted to hospital on trolleys. In one location, a ninety-year-old was waiting on a hard chair for over 45 hours before receiving a bed.

“ In another location, over 72 percent of admitted inpatients are over 75. The fact that older citizens who have been deemed sick enough for admission are being treated on trolleys, chairs, and other inappropriate spaces for long periods is distressing." 

He added that staffing remains problematic across many sites and unsafe staffing is undermining the ability of nurses to deliver safe care: “The continued use of trolleys and reliance on surge capacity mean that too many nurses are routinely working short-staffed. In many hospitals, unfilled rosters are becoming the norm rather than the exception, creating increasingly unsafe conditions for both nurses and patients.”