Pressure persists in Emergency Department with 14 patients on trolleys

Patients are continuing to be accommodated on trolleys at Cavan General Hospital as staff continue to manage multiple outbreaks of Covid and Flu there.

Local health services, both acute and in the community, remain under pressure this week with high levels of patients reporting respiratory illnesses.

As of this morning (Wednesday), there were 420 patients on trolleys in Emergency Departments nationally waiting to be treated, while 106 were without a bed in wards elsewhere in hospitals.

The figures provided by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) included 14 people on trolleys in the ED in Cavan. This figure was down from Monday when 21 on trolleys in the ED, and one patient waiting elsewhere.

In reaction to the continuing health crisis in hospitals, last week the Executive Council of the nursing union sanctioned the beginning of a consultation on a proposed campaign of industrial action.

INMO General Secretary, Phil Ní Sheaghdha said: “For too long nurses and midwives have been warning that we were going to see an overcrowding blackspot in January unless serious and meaningful action was taken.”

She added: “Nurses and midwives expect and deserve to work in a safe practice environment in which they can deliver the safe and excellent care they are trained to provide.”