Mullingar ED overcrowded with 20 waiting on trolleys

For the second day running, 20 patients are waiting for beds in the Emergency Department of Midland Regional Hospital in Mullingar.

Management apologises for the inconvenience, but has asked that people only attend the hospital ED if "absolutely necessary".

Mullingar's trolley numbers which are compiled by the INMO (Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation) are higher than the rest of its midland counterparts, and Dublin's major hospitals too.

St James’s Hospital has 6 on trolleys, St Vincent's University Hospital (5), Tallaght University Hospital (8), Naas General Hospital (3), Mater Misericordiae University Hospital (6). Meanwhile, Tullamore Hospital has five people on trolleys, and Portlaoise has none.

The highest in the country are Cork University Hospital where 37 are on trolleys, Limerick has 32, and Kerry has 21.

Yesterday, the INMO warned that the HSE’s stated “no tolerance” policy for overcrowding during COVID had clearly being broken, along with social distancing guidelines, placing staff and patients at risk.