Over 100,000 patients have been left without beds in Irish hospitals so far this year, with University Hospital Limerick topping the overcrowding list.
Figures compiled by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation show that the landmark figure has been passed for the second year in a row but this time, it has come earlier.
Since January, some 100,457 patients have gone without beds in Irish hospitals according to the INMO.
Yesterday was only the second time that annual figures have ever passed 100,000.
Of that number, some 11,901 were left waiting on trolleys at University Hospital Limerick – a figure that is some 2,500 more than the next busiest facility, Cork University Hospital.
The milestone was reached faster this year than before; in 2018 it took until 28th November.
In addition, some 934 children under 16 were among those without beds.
The INMO has expressed serious concern with the figures, saying the Irish health service continues to break records in the worst possible way.
