{"id":233035,"date":"2026-01-07T21:38:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T21:38:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/233035\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T21:38:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T21:38:07","slug":"hse-urges-alternatives-as-cuh-and-kerry-hospitals-overwhelmed-by-flu-and-weather-injuries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/233035\/","title":{"rendered":"HSE urges alternatives as CUH and Kerry hospitals overwhelmed by flu and weather injuries"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Hospitals in Cork and Kerry face \u201cunprecedented demand\u201d this week due to the weather and flu outbreaks.<\/p>\n<p>The situation, with almost 130 people in trolleys in the two counties on Wednesday, has led to the HSE asking people to consider other care options if suitable.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Cork University Hospital (CUH) had 73 people on trolleys waiting for a bed, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) said on Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">A further 16 were waiting at Mercy University Hospital, and seven were waiting in Bantry.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">In Tralee, University Hospital Kerry had 32 people on trolleys.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Separate HSE data showed large numbers of people being treated on surge beds, which are beds usually used for daycare and pressed into use when hospitals are busy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">It also showed 56 people waiting 24 hours for a bed, including four people aged over 75.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cCUH and other hospitals in the region have experienced significant and at times unprecedented levels of demand for health care services,\u201d the HSE Southwest said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Priscilla Lynch, HSE manager for Cork South and West, urged people with injuries to consider the injury units in Bantry, Mallow, or Gurranabraher instead.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cOur emergency department at CUH remains very busy due to high demand and seasonal illnesses and  <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishexaminer.com\/news\/munster\/arid-41771249.html\">weather-related injury<\/a>, so patients with less urgent problems may experience longer waits as we prioritise those most seriously ill,\u201d she cautioned.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Staff want to \u201ckeep emergency care available for those who need it most\u201d, she added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The units usually have shorter waiting times than a hospital.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">They offer X-rays, fracture treatment, burns treatment, and wound care.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">However, Sonya Cotter, HSE manager for Cork North and East, said: \u201cIn an emergency, it\u2019s really important that you do not delay and that you either come to the emergency department, or dial 999\/112.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">People were also advised to consider out-of-hours GP services or a pharmacy, if suitable.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Overall, the INMO warned of 670 people on trolleys on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The highest number was at Galway hospital at 83, followed by CUH, and then University Hospital Limerick, where 78 were waiting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">HSE data also showed 394 hospital patients whose care was finished but they were unable to be discharged.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">This could be due to shortages of home support, nursing home beds, or other interim supports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hospitals in Cork and Kerry face \u201cunprecedented demand\u201d this week due to the weather and flu outbreaks. The&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":233036,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[21911,103,397,396,61,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-233035","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-hospital-overcrowding","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-health-care","11":"tag-healthcare","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}