Hospitals nationwide are recording record attendance levels, with almost 28,000 Emergency Department (ED) attendances in the last week alone, the HSE has warned.

An average of 333 patients have been left waiting on trolleys each day this week and almost 7,000 people have been admitted to hospital during the same time – an increase of 24% when compared with the same period last year.

The HSE said that this is all happening while hospitals continue to operate a dual system to reduce the impact of possible Covid-19 outbreaks, with Covid and non-Covid pathways in place.

“We are seeing record numbers of people move through our services for treatment, but Covid-19 is continuing to have an impact on services, as we continue to manage and care for patients with the virus,” it noted.

Outbreaks in community settings, including nursing homes, are further complicating this issue as patients due to be discharged from acute hospitals to these settings have now nowhere to go.

The HSE has warned the public to expect delays if they are attending an ED and to consider “all care options before attending”.

“Anyone who suspects they may be facing an emergency situation should of course come to the ED and they will be seen and treated. However, we would ask those who may be in a non-urgent situation to consider other care options, particularly during this time of unprecedented pressure,” commented the HSE’s chief operations officer, Anne O’Connor.

Responding to the increase in patients being left waiting on hospital trolleys, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has called on the Oireachtas Health Committee to investigate hospital overcrowding.

According to INMO general secretary, Phil Ní Sheaghdha, “we are not even two weeks into the month of February and the number of patients on trolleys has already surpassed the entire February total for 2021”.

“The INMO is calling for the Oireachtas Health Committee to urgently investigate out-of-control hospital overcrowding. After months of a hands-off approach from the HSE, HIQA and the Minister for Health, it is time for serious political intervention from members of the Oireachtas.

“By allowing hospital overcrowding to continue at this level, we are slowly creeping back to the bad habits that plagued our health service pre-pandemic,” she insisted.

According to INMO president, Karen McGowan, hospital overcrowding is “now endemic within our health service”.

“It is not good enough that overcrowding is still an acceptable feature of our health service, especially when Covid is still very much circulating in our hospitals posing real risk of cross infection. Nothing substantial has been done to alleviate the pressure that our members are under,” she added.