931 patients are without a bed in Irish hospitals today

Photo © Patrick Flynn

A new record has been set for overcrowding in Irish hospitals, according to the latest figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.

931 people are being treated in trolleys or chairs across the country,

767 are in emergency departments, 164 are elsewhere within the facility, while 26 children have been admitted to hospital without a bed.

University Hospital Limerick – which serves North Tipperary – is the most overcrowded facility in the country with 97 patients on trolleys.

All out-patient appointments for UHL have been cancelled today, only urgent elective surgeries will go ahead at the hospital over the coming days.

Tipperary University Hospital in Clonmel has 18 people without a bed while there are 8 at Nenagh Hospital.

It comes as the HSE appeal to people to consider consulting a pharmacist, a GP or attending a minor injury unit before going to an Emergency Department.