Number of patients treated on trolleys in MRH Mullingar rose last year

The Midlands Regional Hospital, Mullingar is the only hospital in the country where the number of people treated on trolleys rose last year.

That's according to the INMO's Trolley Watch survey, whose annual breakdown of figures revealed that almost 2,800 patients were treated on trolleys in Mullingar in 2020.

While nationally, the number of people who went without a bed when they were admitted to hospital halved last year, Mullingar hospital was the only facility where the figure actually rose. In total, 2,768 patients were treated on trolleys in Mullingar last year compared to 2,619 in 2019. The worst month for overcrowding was January (361) followed by December (352) and September (300).

At the Midland Regional Hospital, Tullamore the number of patients treated on trolleys fell from 3,344 in 2019 to 1,254 in 2020; while at the Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise the figure went from 1,845 in 2019 to 502 last year.

In Portiuncula hospital in Ballinasloe, the numbers on trolleys dropped from 946 to 655.

University Hospital Limerick (9,843) and Cork University Hospital (6,503) had the highest overcrowding figures in the country. Nationally, over 53,300 patients were treated on trolleys last year and over 30,000 of those were recorded since Covid-19 reached Ireland.

INMO NMO General Secretary, Phil Ní Sheaghdha, said: “Hospital overcrowding is unacceptable at the best of times, but it is doubly so when dealing with a contagious virus.

“At the beginning of the pandemic, the focus was on eliminating overcrowding. We now need immediate interventions to ensure our hospitals can cope with the volume of patients safely.

“Over 13,000 healthcare workers have been infected with COVID. Nearly 4,000 of them nurses. These are the staff we need to roll out the vaccine and to provide care. They cannot be safe in overcrowded, infectious environments.

“We are now effectively running two health services, catering for COVID and non-COVD cases. We wrote to the HSE yesterday seeking urgent action. They must bring private hospital capacity onstream and postpone electives.”