Emergency measures required to deal with overcrowding in Cork hospitals, INMO say

Cork University Hospital and Mercy University Hospital are operating "beyond their limits", the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has said, adding that emergency measures are needed to deal with overcrowding at the hospitals.

The INMO also said that they expect the situation at the hospitals to get worse next week after visitor restrictions were put in place at the hospitals due to the flu.

A staff nurse in the Emergency Department in Cork University Hospital described conditions at the hospital as "inhumane".

"When you see old people and they're coming in and they can't breathe and I've nowhere to put them and they're sitting on a chair and then you've to put them into a corridor," said Michelle Kingston.

"It's inhumane and as a nurse I can't help them, it’s heartbreaking.

On Friday, there was a record 73 people waiting for beds at CUH, with the majority of those said to be elderly.

Last year, over 118,000 patients found themselves waiting for a bed in hospital.