Over 300 on hospital trolleys

MORE than 300 people were on trolleys in hospitals around the country yesterday as seasonal illnesses took hold and despite appeals for people to visit emergency departments as a last resort.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) said the trolley toll was 309, with 38 patients at Our Lady Of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.

Cork University Hospital was second highest with 28, ahead of St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin with 24.