Hospital overcrowding last month was at its highest level ever for July, with 6,715 patients on trolleys. This is an increase of 21% over the same month last year.
The figures, from the INMO, show that the measures in pace to alleviate the ongoing crisis are not effective, according to the union.
“The remedial action taken to date is wholly inadequate,” Liam Doran told Newstalk Lunchtime today.
“It’s quite clear it’s not addressing the problem. This is the highest July figure in over ten years.
“We have to do more and we have to do more immediately,” he said.
A combination of factors – including a poor summer, a series of viral infections and the cumulative effect of bed closures over a protracted period – have led to a “perfect storm”, Doran said.
The start of the year saw a national trolley crisis, with Health Minister Leo Varadkar returning from holidays to deal with record levels of overcrowding, with 601 people on trolleys on January 6. However despite measures enacted, including the April 2 announcement of €74m to tackle overcrowding in emergency departments, the problem has not abated and in May of this year there were extended periods when overcrowding was worse than during January’s crisis.
Listen to the full interview with Liam Doran via the player below
