Number of patients on hospital trolleys hits 668

There were 668 patients on trolleys in emergency department or on wards waiting for a bed yesterday — the same day that a report warned that 2,600 beds are needed to break the cycle of hospital overcrowding.

The number on trolleys and on wards yesterday was just shy of the record 677 noted earlier this month by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.

The latest count shows that University Hospital Limerick was the worst affected with 60 waiting.