Overcrowding crisis at Mayo University Hospital escalates

The overcrowding crisis at Mayo University Hospital has worsened over the past 24 hours.

A total of 34 patients - many of them elderly - are without beds at the facility this morning, two more than at the same time yesterday.

Sixteen are on chairs or trolleys in the emergency department and 18 are in the hallway of wards elsewhere.

Nationally, 803 patients have been admitted to hospital without a bed today according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.

INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said: “Yet again we are seeing huge numbers of patients being admitted to hospital without a bed today.

"We know when activity is this high across the system, patient and staff safety suffers.

“INMO members have advised that they are very concerned about the age profile of patients being admitted to hospital on trolleys.

"In one location a ninety-year-old was waiting on a hard chair for over 45 hours before receiving a bed. In another location, over 72% of admitted inpatients are over 75.

"The fact that older citizens who have been deemed sick enough for admission are being treated on trolleys, chairs and other inappropriate spaces for long periods is distressing.

“Staffing remains problematic across many sites. Unsafe staffing is undermining the ability of nurses and midwives to deliver safe and timely care.

"The continued use of trolleys and reliance on surge capacity mean that too many nurses are routinely working short-staffed.

"In many hospitals, unfilled rosters are becoming the norm rather than the exception, creating increasingly unsafe conditions for both nurses and patients.”