The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has expressed serious concern about the high number of patients that are still being left waiting on trolleys in hospitals nationwide.

Over 5,200 patients have been left waiting on trolleys in the first 19 days of May alone.

“The fact that we are still seeing very high trolley numbers at the beginning of summer is a cause of concern for our members. This type of overcrowding in our hospitals cannot be allowed to continue through the summer and into the winter,” commented INMO general secretary, Phil Ní Sheaghdha.

She pointed out that the number of patients waiting on trolleys so far this month is 68% higher than the same period in 2021.

“Our members have been working in extremely difficult conditions and are often the ones who have to apologise to patients for the conditions in their workplaces. In recent surveys by the INMO in some of Ireland’s busiest emergency departments, over 30% of nurses stated that they were likely or very likely to leave the profession in the next 12 months. This is something that the government must grapple with and resolve,” she insisted.

She warned that the retenion of staff in the health service “is a major issue coming down the line”.

“As well as producing a hospital-by-hospital plan to tackle overcrowding, the government must implement measures that have already been agreed such as the implementation of the enhanced nurse salary scale and access to promotional posts with a 3% differential in salary,” Ms Ní Sheaghdha added.