EDITORIAL: Last month’s trolley figures worrying for winter ahead

The weather might feel more like winter, but it is deeply worrying that the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation’s TrolleyWatch figures revealed yesterday that more people were on trolleys during the month at Mayo University Hospital than ever before.
Last month, 411 people had to wait on a trolley in the Castlebar hospital – the most ever since INMO record began back in 2006. Just for perspective, the figure was 390 in July 2022 and 228 in 2021.
The picture is even starker on a national scale, which saw over 7,832 patients, including 138 children, without a proper bed in Irish hospitals this July.
TrolleyWatch figures show that at least 72,391 patients went without a bed in 2023. Unsurprisingly, the INMO has warned that the HSE must view this as a indication of the crisis to come this winter and act accordingly.
INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said yesterday:
“The fact that we have seen over 7,832 patients on trolleys in July is a red flag warning for the autumn and winter ahead. The HSE must set out very clearly what measures it intends to take to reduce the levels of overcrowding in our hospitals in the coming months. Over 72,391 patients have been on trolleys so far this year, a 10 percent increase on the same period last year, this is a bleak sign heading into the winter months.
“It has been reported that the Cabinet has signed off on a year-round plan for the HSE. The INMO will be now seeking details of the support measures it contains, as staff cannot be expected to just endure these conditions for another winter.
“Last week, HIQA published inspection reports into some of Ireland’s busiest hospitals. They show that there is a pattern emerging across the vast majority of hospitals that unsafe levels of staffing are compromising both patient and staff safety. Safe staffing underpinned by legislation must go hand-in-hand with any plan produced to tackle year-round overcrowding.
“As the HSE and individual hospital groups prepare for winter, infection-control measures must be assessed ahead of predictable winter infection surges. We have already seen hospitals, such as University Hospital Kerry, review their mask-wearing and visitor policies because of infection outbreaks in July. A dynamic infection control plan is needed across all hospital sites as airborne viruses will no doubt play a major factor in hospital overcrowding in the months ahead.”
It really is extraordinary that the numbers just keep on rising and rising, even in the summer months when warmer conditions should be leading to less serious illnesses. The extent of the problem is truly worrying, and there is a danger that patients ending up on a trolley is now being normalised.
The Government has a whole host of problems to tackle in the upcoming Budget but it and the HSE must start trying visibly to come up with a coherent strategy to tackle the problem head on.
It cannot become the norm that patients, particularly our elderly, continuously end up on trolleys when all they are seeking is the medical help from our healthcare system that they deserve.