7,700 patients waiting on trolleys in May

More than 7,700 patients waited on trolleys for admission to hospital last month — the worst figures for the month of May since records began, according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO).

The ongoing crisis in emergency departments hit another low this month when it emerged two centenarian women had spent more than a day on trolleys in Limerick and Tallaght hospitals.

The INMO said the May figures are “up a staggering 83% on May 2006, the year the then Minister for Health declared the crisis a national emergency”.