Over 13,000 Patients Without Beds as Minister Publishes Waiting Time Action Plan
Over 13,000 patients without beds in January as Minister publishes Waiting Time Action Plan. CUH recorded 1,026 trolley cases, third highest nationally.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has reported that 13,077 patients were treated without a hospital bed during January 2026, as Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill published the Waiting Time Action Plan 2026 aimed at reducing waiting times for scheduled care.
The simultaneous announcements on 30th January highlight the dual pressures facing Ireland's health service, with emergency departments experiencing severe overcrowding whilst 754,000 patients remain on hospital waiting lists for planned procedures.
University Hospital Limerick recorded the highest number of patients on trolleys during January with 1,991, followed by University Hospital Galway with 1,356 patients. Cork University Hospital recorded 1,026 patients treated without a bed during the month, placing it third nationally.
Sligo University Hospital recorded 995 patients on trolleys, whilst Letterkenny University Hospital had 898. Mercy University Hospital in Cork recorded 453 patients without beds during January. The INMO's data shows that 140 of the patients treated without beds during January were children under 16 years of age.
Phil Ni Sheaghdha, INMO general secretary: "
Our members are reporting long waits for patients, high numbers of patients on wards, and additional surge capacity being introduced across hospitals to accommodate additional need. The pressure placed on existing staff is already enormous when they are caring for 13,000 patients in additional inappropriate spaces in one month. However, the use of unstaffed surge beds disguises the true scale of the overcrowding problem."
Ms Ni Sheaghdha highlighted failures in community services as contributing to hospital overcrowding, stating these services have not been adequately funded or staffed to relieve pressure on acute hospitals.
Phil Ni Sheaghdha:
"Staffing and reversing the effects of the HSE's Pay and Numbers strategy, are key to addressing this crisis. The system and our members are completely overwhelmed, and the solution has to start with staffing if we are to improve working conditions for our members and ensure safe and dignified care for anyone attending our hospitals."
The Minister's Waiting Time Action Plan sets out 36 actions under three themes: Reforming Planned Care, Enabling Planned Care, and Capacity Optimisation. The plan aims to reduce waiting times for patients awaiting scheduled procedures and outpatient appointments.
Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill:
"The Waiting Time Action Plan is a multi-faceted approach with one overarching aim, to ensure people get access to faster care and achieve better health outcomes. It will ensure that we build on the progress we have already made in reforming our health service and continue to boost productivity and efficiency, while developing alternative care pathways and shifting towards care in community settings."
The Minister highlighted progress made since September 2021, including the opening of the Mount Carmel surgical hub in February 2025. Over 3,700 procedures were carried out at the facility by the end of the year, resulting in a 74 per cent reduction in patients waiting more than 12 months on relevant waiting lists compared to 2024.
The HSE's OPD Clinic Capacity Optimisation Programme, which operated across four hospitals last year, resulted in an estimated additional 2,700 new outpatient appointments. The HSE projects it can deliver an additional 103,000 new OPD patient attendances in 2026.
Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill:
"These are not just numbers, these are patients who are now being seen faster, getting earlier health interventions that will ultimately lead to better health outcomes."
The plan includes six overarching targets, including achieving Sláintecare wait time targets of 10 weeks for outpatient appointments and 12 weeks for inpatient procedures, with 50 per cent of patients to be waiting less than these targets.
As of the end of December 2025, the weighted average waiting time for patients on the total hospital waiting list improved by approximately 46 per cent from 12.2 months in September 2021 to 6.6 months. However, the number of patients on active hospital waiting lists increased by approximately 11.8 per cent during 2025 to 754,000 patients.
Bernard Gloster, HSE CEO:
"The Waiting Time Action Plan is one which is totally focused on time waiting for people to access healthcare. While we have made improvements in recent years we are conscious that for many the wait time from referral to discharge is still too long."
The implementation of the Waiting Time Action Plan 2026 will be overseen by the Waiting List Task Force, co-chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of Health and the CEO of the HSE.
