Over 300 on hospital trolleys

Some 329 patients were this morning on trolleys in the country's hospitals, according to lateset 'trolley watch' figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO).

The number is a significant increase on yesterday's figure of 256.

Some 138 of those on trolleys are in the Eastern region, while by far the majority - 191 - are on trolleys at other hospitals nationwide.

With 34 patients on trolleys, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, Co. Louth, is the most overcrowded institution today.