KCLR News

38 patients waiting for a bed in St Luke’s Hospital for Carlow-Kilkenny

The INMO says 660 are on trolleys in hospitals around the country - the highest figure since the start of the pandemic

The number of people waiting on a bed at St Luke’s General Hospital for Carlow and Kilkenny is up again.

38 patients there today are on trolleys, 27 of them in the local Emergency Department.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has today confirmed the highest numbers of patients on trolleys across the country since the beginning of the pandemic with 660 in total without a bed.

That marks a 15% increase on yesterday’s figures alone.

INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said:

“The Minister for Health needs to intervene and declare this trolley chaos for what it is – a national emergency”. 

INMO is calling for a range of measures to be taken  in the short to medium term.

They include the curtailment of all non-emergency, elective care and the reintroduction of mask wearing in crowded and indoor settings.