Trolley crisis is a health risk - 100,000 without beds in 2018
LYING for hours on a trolley in a hospital corridor, while waiting for admission, is not just a matter of inconvenience. International studies show that patients forced to endure such privations have poorer outcomes to their health.
That makes the trolley figures for 2018 all the more worrying. More than 100,000 patients went without hospital beds in 2018 — a record high, according to new analysis, released by the INMO.
The highest trolley figures were reached in the first three months of last year, making 2018 the worst year on record for overcrowding.
The situation will only get worse, unless it is tackled effectively and with urgency. At the heart of the overcrowding crisis is the lack of beds for a growing population. Much of it is caused by difficulties in recruiting and retaining hospital nursing staff.
The situation has become so acute that 95% of INMO nurses and midwives have voted in favour of industrial action.
Instead of responding to the gravity of the situation, Health Minister Simon Harris appears content to look on the bright side, saying he is encouraged that trolley figures were reduced in December, compared to the same month last year.
The Government must come forward with concrete proposals to resolve the recruitment-and-retention crisis in nursing. Only then can those who work in the health service, as well as those who require treatment, look on the bright side.
