With flu season fast approaching, new figures show a hefty 20 per cent increase in patients on trolleys in University Hospital Galway.
The city and region’s main acute hospital has been dealing with multiple Covid-19 outbreaks across five wards since August, adding to overcrowding issues.
Figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives’ Organisation show almost 7,981 people admitted as inpatients this year were forced to wait on trolleys because hospital beds were not available in UHG. Figures from the INMO for the same January to September period last year record 6,655 inpatients on trolleys, a stark 20 per cent fewer than than so far in 2024.
A spokesperson for the Saolta hospitals group was unable to reply to the INMO figures at time of going to press.
As of yesterday, 55 patients admitted to UHG were waiting on trolleys, 44 of whom were in the Emergency Department. The national picture across 32 hospitals is that 494 patients across 32 hospitals are waiting on trolleys, 349 of whom are in Emergency Departments.
Last month Galway University Hospitals group revealed figures from a five-month pilot scheme allowing GPs to refer patients directly to specialist departments, and bypass admission through the ED.
This “Emergency Department avoidance programme” is so far only running on weekdays, but a newsletter from the Saolta group of hospitals reports that two thirds of patients referred through this Acute Integrated Pre-admission Navigational Hub have avoided an ED visit. So far 13 GP practices in counties Galway and Mayo have signed up to the pilot.
