A total of 189 patients at Galway University Hospital had to spend days on trolleys for the week ending October 29, according to INMO Trolley Watch data figures.
The INMO figures, which were further collated and analysed by the Irish Patients Association, found that UHG has “consistently” been one of the worst performing hospitals for trolley numbers.
According to Galway West Sinn Féin TD, Mairéad Farrell, UHG Emergency Department was last week the “second worst performing ED in the State” and according to the Irish Patients Association, this was the second week running that UHG had been in second place in terms of overcrowding.
Dep Farrell [pictured below] said this was no fault of the hospital staff, who are working under demanding conditions. She said it is more the result of “a failure by Government” to invest in healthcare for Galway and the West of Ireland.
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“Galway is consistently among the worst affected by Emergency Department overcrowding because the investments have not been made in bed capacity or community services for the West,” she said. “This lack of beds is a serious concern.”
She said the continuing Covid-19 epidemic is exacerbating the problem. “With the worrying situation of Covid-19 in our hospitals,” she said, “this is putting more pressure on ICU capacity and exposing more patients and staff to Covid outbreaks due to unsafe working conditions.”
Dep Farrell noted that the Government did not provide for one additional inpatient acute bed in Budget 2022. “This has been ongoing for years,” she said, “and underlines how this Government has left Galway behind.”
