THERE ARE 575 people on trolleys in the hallways of hospitals across Ireland today as the problem continues to worsen.
There has been a 3.6% increase on yesterday’s figures alone, according to nurses group the INMO.
The worst affected hospital is Cork University Hospital, where 46 people spend the day waiting on beds.
In Tallaght Hospital in Dublin, an 84-year-old woman a was among 15 patients waiting for a bed. She had been awaiting treatment on a trolley for over 24 hours.
A 68-year-old man, who had a major heart operation five years ago and presented himself with chest pains, had to sleep on the chairs in the sub-waiting area as there wasn’t a trolley or bed available.
He told the Independent.ie: "They only allow you on the bed for a few minutes when you’re getting your blood taken, and then you’ve to go out and sit in the waiting area because there are no beds to stay on. I’ve been here 16 hours now and I’ve only had bloods done and an ECG taken.”
"The staff are fantastic. It’s the system and the government letting them down. I mean, I’m 68, I can’t cope with this."
Dr Jim Gray, consultant in emergency medicine at Tallaght Hospital, described the conditions as "State institutional abuse."
"The situation is as bad as it has ever been. This is ongoing; day in, day out. It is an all-round yearly problem. This is State institutional abuse because it is being overseen by the government, by the agencies, by the HSE, by the Department of Health and society," he told Today with Sean O'Rourke on RTÉ Radio 1.
"Why are we are tolerating this... I can’t understand why people aren’t out on the streets in their droves protesting over this scandal that is allowed to continue.”
The rise in figures coincides with winter flu season which is putting more and more pressure on emergency departments.
