University Hospital Galway among the top 5 overcrowded hospitals in the country in September

University Hospital Galway was the fifth most overcrowded hospital in the country for the month of September according to figures this morning released by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Association.

Figures released show that 516 patients went without a bed this month.

The most overcrowded hospital in the country was University Hospital Limerick with 2,174 patients.

Nationally, 10,018 patients went without a bed in Irish hospitals this month, 202 of them were children.

So far this year, 2,523 children under the age of sixteen have been treated on a trolley or chair.

INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said that September has always been a reliable indicator of how the winter is going to look for healthcare staff, and the situation that their members are predicting based on these figures as was the case in August, indicates a huge red flag.

She added that risk reduction measures needed to be introduced now – not when it is too late and an inevitable adverse incident occurs.