The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation want to see private hospitals used for non-urgent elective care, as the public service copes with demand.
New figures show over 10,000 patients have been left waiting on trolleys or seats at Cork University Hospital so far in 2022, the highest ever figure for this point in the year.
University Hospital Limerick has been identified as the worst-hit in the country with Cork University Hospital the second most overcrowded with 10,107 patients on trolleys so far this year
The INMO say it's time the Government stepped in to deal with this unsafe, unacceptable and inhumane situation.
Last week the interim CEO of the HSE said he expects many elective surgeries to be postponed this winter due to demand.
But General Secretary of the INMO Phil Ní Sheaghdha says that shouldn’t be the case:
"People who are on waiting lists. It is not good enough to say to them, if we do anything about ED, you have to wait longer. That's not the truth. The truth is, that's a decision, and we have a private hospital system that helped out during COVID, the exact same request must be made today."
