Trolley crisis: 13 children among 558 people waiting for a hospital bed

There were more than 550 people on trolleys in emergency departments or on wards awaiting admission to a hospital bed on Wednesday, nurses have said.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) said there were 53 people deemed by doctors to require admission waiting for a bed at Cork University Hospital.

The INMO says there were 13 children on trolleys waiting for a bed on Wednesday, with said six of these at the Children's University Hospital, Temple Street and seven at Our Lady's Hospital in Crumlin.

Overall the INMO said there were 558 patients on trolleys in emergency departments or on wards across the country awaiting admission to a bed on Wednesday. This was up from Tuesday’s “trolley watch” count of 541 people.

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In Dublin, the INMO said there were 30 patients on trolleys at St Vincent’s University Hospital .

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin clashed on Tuesday over responsibility for the number of people waiting on trolleys in emergency departments.

Mr Varadkar said he was not trying to defend the situation because “it is not defensible” and added that the bed capacity review would be ready by the end of the week.

Mr Martin told the Taoiseach that four years ago “you, as minister for health, said you were sick to death of the problem and would solve it once and for all”.

Mr Varadkar also said if it was “simply a matter for funding the issue of overcrowding would have been sorted by now” as there had been a 20 per cent increase in funding.