The level of overcrowding at the region’s main hospital jumped by 45% in August, compared to the same month a year ago.
The latest analysis from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation shows there were 1,773 admitted patients left waiting for beds at University Hospital Limerick last month, up from 1,215 in August 2024.
The figure is 715 more than the next busiest facility; Galway University Hospital and is 171 more than all ten hospitals serving the east of the country combined.
Ennis General Hospital, meanwhile, saw a reduction in the number of patients on trolleys from 151 in August 2024 to 84 over the past four weeks.
The INMO is now calling on the HSE to outline in detail what it plans to do to radically reduce both the number of patients being treated in inappropriate spaces in Irish hospitals, and the amount of time a patient is spending on a trolley.
