Hospital overcrowding: More than 560 patients waiting for beds

Tomas Doherty

More than 560 patients were waiting for beds in Irish hospitals on Tuesday morning, according to figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO).

The union's daily update on hospital overcrowding said 404 patients were waiting in emergency departments, while 158 were in wards elsewhere in hospitals.

The most overcrowded hospital on Tuesday, according to the INMO, was University Hospital Limerick (UHL), where 115 patients were waiting for a bed. Cork University Hospital (CUH) closely followed, with 62 patients waiting on trolleys.

According to the Health Service Executive's own figures, 401 people were waiting on trolleys across HSE-run hospitals on Tuesday.

There were 66 patients waiting in UHL and 38 in CUH. Tallaght University Hospital in Dublin had 37 patients waiting for a free bed, according to the HSE's daily urgent and emergency care report.

The HSE figures include patients waiting on a hospital trolley or extra bed placed in an inappropriate space in a hospital ward.

The INMO also counts patients placed on corridors or chairs, elsewhere in hospitals, waiting for admission to a bed.