Almost half of patients on trolleys on Wednesday at just one hospital 

INMO found 51 patients without a hospital bed at University Hospital Limerick

This time last year, the first count by the nurses’ union after the Christmas break found 571 patients without a bed.

Almost half of the patients without a hospital bed on Wednesday were at just one hospital in Limerick, as the national count of 111 by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) is lower than had been feared.

Separate data released by the HSE shows two people aged over 75 waited longer than 24 hours to get a bed.