Overcrowding crisis at St Luke’s Hospital eases, but 28 patients still on trolleys

THE overcrowding crisis at St Luke’s General Hospital eased this morning, although 28 patients are still being treated on trolleys at the A&E department and outside wards.

Latest figures from Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) show there has been a drop of 12 in the numbers left waiting for a bed at St Luke’s over the past 24 hours.

St Luke’s recorded the second highest levels of overcrowding of all the country’s hospitals yesterday and on Monday following a surge in weekend admissions.

According to INMO’s latest trolley watch figures, St Luke’s is currently experiencing the sixth highest levels of overcrowding, behind University Hospital Limerick (62), Cork University Hospital (33), Tallaght University Hospital (31), South Tipperary General Hospital (30) and Galway University Hospital (29).

A total of 513 patients are currently being treated in the country’s 32 main hospitals, according to the trolley watch figures