591 people are waiting for admission to hospitals today, including 433 who are waiting in Emergency Departments.
The worst hit hospitals, according to the INMO, are University Hospital Limerick with 60 patients on trolleys and Cork University Hospital with 65.
48 people are waiting to be admitted in Letterkenny University Hospital and 45 in Sligo University Hospital.
This is an increase of 150 on the same day last year when 441 people were on trolleys and in overflow wards nationwide.
There has also been a significant rise since yesterday when 508 people were waiting for admission.
591 patients were waiting for beds at 8am this morning, with 30+ patients on trolleys and chairs in *9* hospitals.
See today's full trolley figures here https://t.co/QpFoi5Y62G pic.twitter.com/i1vaMvLj7Y
— Irish Nurses & Midwives Organisation (@INMO_IRL) November 7, 2018
Meanwhile, the Irish Medical Organisation insists many hospitals do not have the resources to keep hospital beds open during the Christmas break.
Representatives from the medical profession have been reacting to the Taoiseach's suggestion that some key staff should not take holidays in the first two weeks of the year.
Mr Varadkar suggested drastic measures were needed as the HSE’s winter plan “does not work”.
"We need to make sure that every bed is open. That is the kind of winter plan we need; not the kind we have had for years and years that does not work," he said yesterday.
The INMO did not rule out taking strike action over the festive season if its 40,000 members vote in favour of doing so.
Digital Desk
