Dozens of beds at Clare nursing homes are unoccupied this week, even though they could be used to help ease the overcrowding crisis at University Hospital Limerick.
The midwest's main hospital has been one of the busiest in Ireland in this week of unprecedented trolley waiting lists, and the UL Hospitals Group says one of the key factors has been "the older age profile of patients" and "delays in discharging" them to "home or other appropriate settings.
However Nursing Homes Ireland has carried out a survey of facilities in Clare, and found 43 vacant beds at 8 different locations.
These are among the 1200 available beds nationwide and Tadgh Daly, Chief Executive with Nursing Homes Ireland, can't understand why the current crisis has been allowed to happen.
