Number of people waiting on a hospital bed rises close to 300

There are almost 300 people on Ireland's hospital trolleys and overflow areas of wards today.

According to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, there are 299 people waiting on a hospital bed.

The INMO Trolley Watch claims 232 people are on trolleys with a further 67 in overflow areas of wards at hospitals across the country.

Midland Regional Hospital in Mullingar is the most overcrowded with 28 people in need of a bed.

There are two hospitals close behind with 25 people waiting - the Midland Regional Hospital in Tullamore and the Tallaght Hospital in Dublin - while University Hospital Limerick and St Vincent's University Hospital in Dublin both have 23 waiting.