Twenty-one patients on trolleys at Mayo hospital today

TWENTY-ONE patients are on trolleys at Mayo University Hospital today, according to the INMO's Trolley Watch.

Five patients are in the emergency department, with 16 in wards elsewhere in the hospital.

The figure is up from 15 yesterday (Tuesday) when two patients were on trolleys in the emergency department, with 13 on wards.

Nationally, some 439 admitted patients are waiting for beds this morning, according to today’s INMO Trolley Watch. Some 293 patients are waiting in the emergency department, while 146 are in wards elsewhere in the hospital.

Yesterday, when 432 admitted patients were on trolleys across the country, the INMO noted that together the four hospitals in Letterkenny, Sligo, Mayo and Galway recorded 137 patients on trolleys.

INMO general secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha said such high figures at the beginning of August indicate that recruitment in the west is not keeping pace with bed requirements, commenting: “Roadblocks to recruitment must be removed now, and not in four months’ time when these hospitals will undoubtedly be experiencing additional pressure.”