Nurses say the number of patients waiting on trolleys at the region’s main hospital reached it’s highest-ever level at the start of the year.
The latest figures from the INMO show 2,853 people were left waiting for beds at University Hospital Limerick between January and April this year, a 7% rise on the same period in 2016.
The INMO says it’s the highest ever level of overcrowding at the Dooradoyle facility and the numbers are more than five times of those a decade ago.
In April alone, there were 649 people on trolleys, up from 620 in the same month last year.
Overcrowding at Ennis General Hospital has dropped significantly however in the first four months of the year, from 220 to 150.
Th figures, which show show that UHL has been the second busiest hospital in the country so far this year have been revealed ahead of the INMO’s national conference in Wexford.
The organisation says the shortage of beds in acute hospitals and step down facilities remains a real problem in the ongoing crisis.
