Public hospitals short 'at least 1,000 beds'

The ESRI analysis comes against a backdrop of ongoing overcrowding at almost every public hospital in the country, with 679 patients unable to get a bed on Tuesday, according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.

The country's public hospitals are short at least 1,000 beds, according to the latest analysis from think-tank ESRI, which has also estimated that over 300 extra beds could be needed every year.

It comes against a backdrop of ongoing overcrowding at almost every public hospital in the country, with 679 patients unable to get a bed on Tuesday, according to figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.