The number of people on trolleys in hospitals across the State is approaching record levels as the health system struggles to deal with a rise in admissions caused by flu.
There were 536 patients on trolleys on Wednesday morning when at least two hospitals issued warnings to patients to stay away if possible.
The continuing rise in overcrowding has prompted fears among health bosses that the current record number of 601 patients on trolleys could be broken shortly.
Members of the emergency taskforce implementation group who met Wednesday were told that in most hospitals all available measures have been taken to escalate the response to overcrowding.
Attendances at emergency departments are up 10 per cent since the start of the year, despite additional spending of up to €100 million on acute hospitals over the past year.
The 536 patients counted on trolleys by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation was up slightly on the previous day. The HSE, in its count, said there were 461 patients on trolleys at 8am yesterday, of whom 203 were waiting more than nine hours.
