The closure of private nursing homes is contributing to abnormally high trolley figures at Cork hospitals.
Patients, who have finished impatient hospital care, are continuing to occupy hospital beds due to a scarcity of nursing home beds.
There were 60 delayed discharges in Cork hospitals recorded earlier this week.
Speaking to RedFm news, Colm Porter, from the INMO, says a complete lack off bed capacity is increasing the number of patients on trolleys:
"We did see during COVID that a lot of the private nursing homes did closed down and the combination of the two - the lack of beds capacity within the acute setting in Cork but then also the lack of bed capacity within a community setting - that this has resulted in the increase of patients who are spending more and more time on trolleys".
Tadhg Daly, CEO of Nursing Homes Ireland, says "The need to support and stabilise the nursing home sector is clearer than ever. Our acute care system is seeing people continue to be in hospitals where they ideally should be cared for in a place, they themselves can call home. The growing absence of nursing home beds is seriously compounding a healthcare crisis. Government need to immediately address the threat to sustainability of nursing home care, in the past six years, 72 nursing homes have closed with the loss of vital care in many communities. Immediate additional funding is required to save our nursing homes. We are asking the Government to intercede immediately to provide a sustainable future to the nursing home sector, to provide additional resources to nursing homes, to ensure people do not have to stay in the acute healthcare system. Nursing home care in communities throughout Ireland is a vital element of the overall health service."
