73 children were on hospital trolleys in the first two weeks of the year

The new figures were released today by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.

According to new research, 73 children spent time on trolleys in the emergency departments of three paediatric hospitals in just the first two weeks of 2018. The findings have led to the announcement that the INMO will be publishing a trolley count for children’s hospitals from today onwards. The number of children on trolleys will be counted daily in a bid to reduce the number of patients waiting for beds. Crumlin’s Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, the National Children’s Hospital in Tallaght and the Children’s University Hospital in Temple Street will all now be subject to daily counts.

INMO launches Paediatric Trolley Watch today #trolleycrisis #trolleywatch @sligonurse pic.twitter.com/vyLGsbgZul

— INMO_IRL (@INMO_IRL) January 15, 2018

The INMO said that the increased presence of trolleys in paediatric hospitals is “a new phenomenon”.

“It is unfortunate that children are now regularly being admitted for hospital care without an inpatient bed,” their statement read.

The organisation has been monitoring the numbers of children on trolleys since November when it was agreed that paediatrics would be included in the Trolley Watch scheme. Today, INMO Deputy Secretary General Dave Hughes said the high numbers are not down to an increase of children being admitted to a hospital, rather the lack of beds available.

INMO General Secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha, “The negative outcome for patients arising from long trolley waits is proven and accepted “ #trolleywatch #trolleycrisis pic.twitter.com/7D9RUHMM3u

— INMO_IRL (@INMO_IRL) January 15, 2018

“I think it’s a regrettable step that we’ve had to call you here today,” INMO President Martina Harkin-Kelly said earlier today. “It is vital that this Union puts the health and safety and timely care of all patients, particularly those most vulnerable in our society under the spotlight so as to ensure that appropriate measures are taken to provide safe, effective quality care. "Therefore, it has been necessary to bring attention to this unfortunate development by expanding the Trolley Watch figures to include children. “It is something we hoped would never arise and the sooner such practice ceases, the better from the INMO point of view.”