WE ARE SICK OF THIS

INMO slams crisis as 709 wait for a bed | Staff pressure ‘can no longer continue’

- SEAN MURPHY

A NURSES' union warned that hospital overcrowding is soaring towards record figures with hundreds of patients stuck on trolleys.

The Irish Nurses' and Midwives' Organisation said 709 people, including 24 children, were waiting for a bed yesterday.

After warning in January the system needed emergency support until March, it urged bosses to "immediately" review hospitals' weekend problems as nurses and midwives are under levels of pressure that "can no longer" continue..

The INMO's daily Trolley Watch tally of 709 patients showed 533 were waiting in emergency departments and 176 were in wards elsewhere in hospitals.