There were 668 patients on trolleys in emergency department or on wards waiting for a bed yesterday — the same day that a report warned that 2,600 beds are needed to break the cycle of hospital overcrowding. The number on trolleys and on wards yesterday was just shy of the record 677 noted earlier this month by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation. The latest count shows that University Hospital Limerick was the worst affected with 60 waiting. The HSE’s TrolleyGAR recorded 514 adult patients on trolleys in emergency departments yesterday — a 28% increase on the 401 waiting last year. There were 250 people waiting more than nine hours for a bed, and 57 were waiting more than 24 hours.

Source: Irish Examiner January 24, 2018 00:00 UTC