Rising numbers of children on trolleys in hospitals, nursing union warns

Data shows rising numbers of children being admitted to hospital without a bed, Ireland’s main nursing union has warned as it highlights the issue of overcrowding.

According to daily “trolley watch” figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), the number of children under 16 without a bed rose to 42 on Tuesday morning from 32 on Monday.

Such data, for hospitals throughout the State, shows there were 30 children on trolleys in emergency departments on Tuesday and another 12 in other hospital wards. The previous day there were 32 children on emergency department trolleys.

The daily data shows the overall number of trolley patients of all ages dropped to 702 on Tuesday from 747 on Monday.

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The INMO said the rise in children being treated on trolleys was in line with a trend seen this year with more than 3,388 children admitted to hospital without a bed so far this year. That number represents an increase of some 34 per cent on the same period in 2022, it said.

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“Forty-two children under the age of sixteen are on trolleys today, which is extremely worrying. It should not be accepted that children are being treated in inappropriate spaces,” the INMO said.

Overcrowding in paediatric hospitals was not only dangerous for staff and patients but “simply no way” to safely treat sick children. “It also places a further burden on families who have to experience long waits while accompanying a sick child, potentially overnight,” the union said.

“We know at this time of year that predictable winter illnesses are on the rise. The focus must be now on ensuring that our most vulnerable patients are not spending excessive times on a trolley or chair. In order to not repeat the same pattern of overcrowding we saw last December and this January, we need a plan from the Health Service Executive that includes the immediate cessation of non-urgent elective surgery.”

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