A total of 5,327 people walked out of emergency departments in Galway's public hospitals last year without being assessed.
Some 3,800 people left University Hospital Galway (UHG ) without being "seen" in 2022. This represented a significant increase on the 2021 and 2020 figures of 2,736 and 1,057 respectively.
Meanwhile 1,526 patients left Portiuncula University Hospital in Ballinasloe without being assessed last year compared to 813 in 2021 and 761 in 2020.
Statistics obtained by the Aontú political party show that the number of people (11,000 ) to leave emergency departments (EDs ) run by the Saolta University Healthcare Group in the west and north-west reached a "record high" last year.
The Aontú representative for Tuam, Luke Silke, who recently organised a protest outside UHG to highlight staffing inadequacies in the ED, describes the figures as a "damning indictment" on the health service.
"These are really awful figures," he says. "The fact that 5,000 people in Galway - between UHG and Portiuncula - left emergency departments without being seen is a damning indictment on the HSE and highlights all the more the need for proper investment in healthcare in the county - particularly in terms of staff numbers, bed capacity, and infrastructure."
He is calling for a proper timeframe to be provided for the completion of the new ED in Galway. "At the moment it seems half hospital, half building site. I was recently in there myself and the atmosphere and conditions inside can only be described as chaotic - nurses are at their wits' end with staffing shortages and stress."
He claims that in some cases patients are being left for days without being seen. "I was recently in the hospital with an elderly relative and we opted to leave A&E without being seen. After a lengthy wait, it seemed the safest and most humane thing to do in the circumstances."
Mr Silke is urging the government to act now to save lives. "It is only a matter of time before lives are lost, or irreparably damaged unless the government steps up and starts treating the Galway healthcare situation as the emergency that it is."
Meanwhile University Hospital Galway was among the top five most overcrowded hospitals in the country in February, according to the Irish Nurses' and Midwives' Organisation (INMO ). The west's biggest hospital was the third most overcrowded after University Hospital Limerick which had 1,561 people awaiting bed and Cork University Hospital (1,041 ). A total of 775 people were on trolleys in the ED or awaiting beds in other areas at UHG last month. The Mater Hospital in Dublin and Sligo University Hospital had the fourth and fifth highest overcrowding numbers at 570 and 528 respectively.
The general secretary of the INMO Phil Ní Sheaghdha said February was an "incredibly challenging" month for nurses and midwives working in the Irish public health service.
"There were more than 10,000 people admitted to hospital for care for whom there were no beds. It is clear that medium and long-term plans are needed to resolve the overcrowding issues in these hospitals."
Nurses are under tremendous pressure as they continue to work in "unsafe" and "overcrowded" situations, she says.
“Nurses are working in extremely unsafe conditions. Their workplaces are not just overcrowded, they are also short staffed. When wards are not staffed correctly, it has a very profound impact on the level of care our members are able to provide to patients."
She is asking the HSE and the Minister for Health to provide an update on whether the measures they introduced in January to relieve pressure on the health service have had a "real impact". She also wants to know what plans are in place to prevent further spikes in March and April.
