Last month was the worst April recorded for hospital overcrowding according to new figures from the INMO.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation said that last month there were 683 patients on trolleys at UHG, up from 576 in the same month in 2018 as hospital overcrowding reached record levels.
Nationwide, 10,229 people were in hospital with a proper bed last month, 8 percent more than in April last year and more than double the number from 2006 when records began.
Among those people, 106 children were forced to wait on trolleys in April.
The worst affected hospital last month was University Hospital Limerick with 1,206 patients on trolleys, followed by Cork University Hospital (826) and University Hospital Galway (683).
NMO general secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha said “This is the second month in 2019 where over 10,000 patients have been forced to wait without a bed.
“The crisis is without question worsening. Overcrowding hits two main groups directly: those who depend on public health services and those who work in them, providing the safest care they can in these conditions.”
“We started the trolley count over a decade ago because of unacceptable overcrowding. The problem has more than doubled since then.”
