Over 47,000 people treated on trolleys at MUH since 2006

Marking 20 years of Trolley Watch, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has said there must be a sea change when it comes to tackling hospital overcrowding.

Over 1.7 million people have been treated on a trolley, chairs, or in another inappropriate bed space since the union began counting trolleys in 2006. In the last decade alone, over 1 million people have been on trolleys.

In Mayo, a total of 47,101 people have been treated on trolleys at Mayo University Hospital from January 1, 2006, to May 5, 2026. That total number at MUH includes 30,378 people in the Emergency Department and 16,725 on Wards and elsewhere.

INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said:

“The INMO has been counting the number of patients on trolleys, chairs or in other inappropriate bed spaces for over twenty years. In that time, our methodology has never changed.

“Since the INMO first launched Trolley Watch in 2006, over 1.7 million people have been admitted to hospital without a bed. This problem has accelerated since 2016, as one million patients have been on a trolley in the last decade. This is a shameful statistic when you consider the amount of economic growth during this period.

“Behind every statistic is a patient who faced a lengthy wait for a bed. We know that there are so many negative health outcomes associated with being treated on a trolley. So many are sadly stripped of their dignity when being treated on an open corridor, despite our members doing their best to provide safe and timely care.

“For the health of one million people, equivalent to approximately 1 in 6 of the population, and the nurses caring for them, to be jeopardised in this way, tells us this system is failing its patients and its staff.”