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LAST year saw the highest number of patients waiting on trolleys at University Hospital Kerry since the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation began recording the data in 2006.
There were 3,396 patients waiting on trolleys in UHK in 2018, an increase of over 50% on the previous high in 2017 of 2,215.
Last month was also the worst December on record for figures at the hospital, with 263 patients on trolleys compared to the previous high of December 2017 when 225 were waiting.
Nationally, 108,227 patients went without hospital beds in 2018 – a record high, according to the INMO figures.
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The figures are a 9% increase on 2017, which was itself a record high. This is nearly double the number in 2006 (55,720), when INMO records began.
The INMO blames the crisis on low capacity and understaffing. The organisation has asked the government to work with the INMO to develop real proposals that will resolve the recruitment and retention crisis in nursing.
This has not happened, and 95% of INMO nurses and midwives voted in favour of industrial action. The INMO Executive will meet on the 7th and 8th of January to set dates for strikes.
