A total of 655 patients are waiting for beds on Monday, according to today’s Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) Trolley Watch.
Five hundred patients are waiting in emergency departments, while 155 are in wards elsewhere in hospitals.
There are 109 admitted patients waiting for a bed in University Hospital Limerick this morning, the highest figure in UHL so far this year.
This is followed by Cork University Hospital (CUH), where there are 63 patients on trolleys, and University Hospital Galway where there are 56 patients waiting for beds.
The INMO Trolley Watch counts the number of patients who have been admitted to acute hospitals, but who are waiting for a free bed.
These patients are often being treated on trolleys in corridors, but they may also be on chairs, in waiting rooms, or "simply wherever there’s space". The INMO started Trolley Watch in 2004.
