'Entirely predictable': 2023 the worst year on record for hospital overcrowding

This is the second year in a row that overcrowding records have been broken, and over 3,450 children have been on trolleys so far this year, a 24% increase on last year.

More than 121,526 patients have gone without a bed in Irish hospitals in 2023, according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), making it the worst year for hospital overcrowding on record.

University Hospital Limerick (UHL) was the most overcrowded hospital this year with 21,141 patients admitted to hospital without a bed.