The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has called for an emergency national plan to deal with overcrowding in hospitals, as 761 patients were waiting on trolleys on Monday morning.
528 people are in emergency departments in hospitals, with 233 people elsewhere in hospitals across the country.
At University Hospital Limerick, there are 122 people on trolleys, with 74 people in the emergency department.
Sligo University Hospital has 55 people without a bed, with 25 people in the emergency department.
INMO general secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said: “Nurses, midwives and other healthcare professionals are now working in unenviable circumstances in hospitals and community settings as they deal with chronic overcrowding in the middle of a widespread respiratory illness outbreak while national weather warnings are in place.
“It is inconceivable that we are once again talking about how high trolley figures are on the first Monday in January.
"This level of overcrowding when dealing with the level of flu and RSV that we have seen over the festive season was entirely predictable but there has been no plan in place by the HSE and individual health regions to stem the worst of it.
“Our members want to be able to provide safe care to patients but also be assured that their own health and wellbeing is being protected - neither are guaranteed when they are working in overcrowded conditions where respiratory infections are rife.
“An emergency national plan is needed to deal with the escalating overcrowding problem in part of the country. It is frustrating for our members to see other parts of the public sector coming together so quickly to efficiently deal with the consequences of national weather warnings, yet they are left to deal with entirely predictable annual problems with no new solutions from their employer yet again.
“The number of patients on trolleys today exceed the inpatient capacity of each large hospital across the country. For example, the number of patients on trolleys exceed the number of inpatient beds in University Hospital Waterford and Letterkenny University Hospital combined. The continued delay of developing three elective-only hospitals, as per the Sláintecare plan is adding to the problem.
“The HSE and other public sector healthcare employers must reassure nurses, midwives, healthcare workers, and the wider public that extraordinary measures are being taken to address and remove all barriers to delivering safe care during this critical time.”
