FIGURES from the INMO have revealed that 2015 was a record year from patients waiting on trolleys at Kerry General Hospital.

The Trolley Watch figures supplied by the organisation revealed the numbers were up 38% on 2014 and the highest since records began in 2006. This is way above the national average of 21%.

There were 1,389 patients waiting on trolleys in the Emergency Department and wards in 2015 compared to 1,005 in 2014. The previous high was in 2006 with a figure of 1,144.

Nationally, from January to December 2015, almost 93,000 patients waited on a trolley for an in-patient bed compared to 77,000 in 2014. This was the highest figure since INMO records began.

However, December saw a decrease in the numbers waiting in KGH with 67 on trolleys compared to 119 for the same month in 2014.

Speaking in the light of the national figures revealed, INMO General Secretary Liam Doran said: “While we welcome the reduction of 13% in the December 2015 figures, the 21% overall increase in 2015 figures compared to 2014 is very disappointing.  Also, the first days of January this year show no sign of the crisis abating.

It is now absolutely vital that the HSE, at national level, and at senior level within all Hospital Groups, immediately commits to fully operating the revised policy. Their priority must be to reduce overcrowding and ensure that nurses can practice safely within a manageable working environment so that we never see these figures again.”