24,880 patients on hospital trolleys in first quarter of 2011

TROLLEY numbers in hospital emergency departments reached record levels during the first three months of this year, according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO).

The number of patients on trolleys increased to 24,880 during the first quarter of 2011, up 18% since 2006 when there were 21,110 over the same period.

Trolley figures dropped to between 16,000 and 18,000 between 2007 and 2009 before increasing again last year to 21,448.