Worst-ever October overcrowding figures recorded at LUH

Letterkenny University Hospital has recorded its highest ever overcrowding figures in the month of October since records began in 2006.

There were not enough beds for 693 patients attending the Emergency Department in LUH this month. The figure is up 21% from last year’s October overcrowding record of 572 patients in Letterkenny.

Letterkenny was the fifth most overcrowded hospital in Ireland this month. It also recorded the fourth highest trolley count today (Thursday), with 44 patients without beds.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation is warning that the overcrowding crisis will worsen this winter if the recruitment ban in the HSE is not lifted.

INMO General Secretary, Phil Ní Sheaghdha, said: “The message from the frontline is clear: patients are being put at grave risk.

“There is no doubt that this situation will worsen as winter bites, unless staffing becomes a top priority for the government. Patients are paying the price for the HSE’s “go slow” recruitment freeze, which leaves many posts unfilled.

“I have written to the HSE to warn that their recruitment pause is putting lives at risk.

“We need to be encouraging more nurses and midwives into our system. Instead, we are making an already bureaucratic recruitment process even more difficult. In many cases, we’re slamming the door on those who want to work in our public health system.”