Nurses: Overcrowding reaching crisis point in Galway Hospital

Nurses say overcrowding in the emergency department at University College Hospital Galway is reaching crisis point.

The INMO union said 48 patients were waiting on trollies this morning and claimed management at UCHG had started moving trollies into already-full wards.

In a statement issued this evening, the HSE said that University Hospital Galway was extremely busy this morning and therefore staff at the hospital implemented its 'full capacity protocol'.

This means that a number of patients were brought to 12 wards in the hospital, where they are being monitored until a bed becomes available.

The HSE says the protocol was stood down at around 3.30pm once the situation changed.