777 Patients Being Treated Without a Bed in Irish Hospitals, Including 58 at Cork University Hospital

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has reported that 777 patients are being treated without a bed in Irish hospitals today (Tuesday, 27 October 2026), with Cork University Hospital among the worst affected.

According to the INMO’s Trolley Watch figures, Cork University Hospital has 58 patients on trolleys, 44 in the emergency department and 14 in wards elsewhere in the hospital.

Mercy University Hospital, Cork, has 27 patients on trolleys, 22 in the emergency department and five in wards elsewhere. Bantry General Hospital has 13 patients on trolleys, all in wards elsewhere in the hospital. University Hospital Kerry has nine patients on trolleys.

University Hospital Limerick is the most overcrowded hospital in the country, with 108 patients on trolleys. The INMO also highlighted the numbers across hospitals in the west and north-west, with 62 at Letterkenny University Hospital, 56 at University Hospital Galway, 48 at Sligo University Hospital and 33 at Mayo University Hospital.

Of the 777 patients nationally, 499 are in emergency departments and 278 are in wards elsewhere. Five of the patients are under 16.

Phil Ní Sheaghdha, INMO General Secretary:

“This level of overcrowding is so dangerous, it is hard to see how the employer can stand over conditions in any hospital in the country.

It is not acceptable that something as ordinary as a bank holiday weekend can result in this level of risk for patients and staff. It demonstrates a total failure in planning and a total disregard for safety.

On any given day our members are stretched to the limit, caring for too many patients in understaffed wards. A surge in numbers cannot be safely dealt with in those circumstances, and it is up to management to ensure staff and patients are not exposed to this total lack of safety.

This dangerous situation is happening in the context of cessation of recruitment and nurse managers being prevented from filling vacant posts. It is absolutely vital, coming into the busiest time of year, that all vacant posts are filled as a matter of urgency and that recruitment and staff planning move to the top of the HSE’s agenda.”