January worst month on record for overcrowding in Mullingar Hospital

INMO statistics confirm that January 2018 was the worst ever month for hospital overcrowding, with 635 on trolleys in Mullingar Hospital, up from 540 in 2017, and 426 the year before.

Mullingar Hospital was worse than any of the main hospitals in the Eastern region, the highest of which was St Vincent’s University Hospital with 559 people waiting on trolleys.

In Tullamore Hospital 556 people on trolleys this January, and in Portlaoise, only 258.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) Trolley Watch Figures, showed that 12,201 people waited on trolleys in Emergency Departments or on additional beds placed throughout hospitals, during the month of January across the country.

This is an 18% increase over the numbers last January, which themselves were a record high and is a 128% increase on the numbers recorded in 2007.  

The most overcrowded hospital in the Eastern region was St Vincent’s University Hospital with 559 people waiting on trolleys and 1,003 were recorded for the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick, the highest outside of Dublin.

Children’s University Hospital, Temple Street, Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin and National Children’s Hospital, Tallaght recorded an additional 192 children, waiting on trolleys, during January.