The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation’s monthly figures round-up shows almost 13,000 admitted patients were treated on trolleys or chairs during March.
Nearly 450 of these were children under 16.
As is now the norm University Hospital Limerick was by far the worst hit.
There were no beds available for 2,080 people who were admitted through the Emergency Department at the hospital which serves North Tipperary, Limerick and Clare. This compares with the pre-Covid figure of 1,054 in March 2019.
Tipperary University Hospital in Clonmel recorded 289 patients being cared for around the ED or in already full wards this month – the figure for March 2019 was 510.
Nenagh Hospital had 57 patients on trolleys this month compared with 22 in 2019.
INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha says this has been the worst March for overcrowding since they began counting trolleys in 2006.
She says the State cannot expect nurses to bear the brunt of the crisis and work at full tilt in constantly overcrowded and understaffed wards year-round.
Today there are 85 patients without a bed at UHL while TUH has just 4 with none reported at Nenagh Hospital.
