Last month was the worst April on record for hospital overcrowding according to figures released this morning from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO).
The INMO says 10,229 admitted patients were forced to wait without hospital beds in April 2019.
The figure is an 8% increase on April last year and a 125% increase on April 2006, when records began.
The worst hit hospital was University Hospital Limerick, with 1,206 patients waiting for a bed in April.
Cork University Hospital had 826 patients while University Hospital Galway had 683 patients.
623 patients were waiting for a bed in South Tipperary General Hospital while Tallaght University Hospital had 566 patients.
"This is the second month in 2019 where over 10,000 patients have been forced to wait without a bed," said INMO general secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha.
"The crisis is without question worsening.
"Overcrowding hits two main groups directly: those who depend on public health services and those who work in them, providing the safest care they can in these conditions.
"We started the trolley count over a decade ago because of unacceptable overcrowding. The problem has more than doubled since then."
