in August, nearly 8,000 new patients without hospital beds in Ireland

DUBLIN, Ireland: In August, over 7,800 patients were admitted to hospitals without a bed, according to data from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO). University Hospital Limerick recorded the highest number of patients without beds, totaling 1,215.

Cork University Hospital followed with 847 patients lacking beds, while University Hospital Galway reported 748. Sligo University Hospital had 663 patients without beds, and St Vincent's University Hospital in Dublin saw 536 patients admitted under similar conditions.

Although the INMO noted that overall overcrowding figures were lower than in August of the previous year, several hospitals experienced notable increases in patient numbers without beds.

These included Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, where the number of patients on trolleys rose from 147 last August to 285 this year, Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Ennis, which saw an increase from 28 to 151, and Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, which jumped from 20 to 257 patients without beds.

The INMO has called for an urgent meeting of the Health Service Executive's emergency department taskforce to address the current overcrowding issue and discuss strategies to handle the anticipated surge in patients during the upcoming winter months.