The number of patients waiting on hospital trolleys nationally at 8am last Thursday morning reached 500, the highest ever recorded in the INMO's trolley watch statistics.
This 'Hospital crisis' was visibly evident in Sligo General Hospital with 14 people forced to wait on trolleys for medical attention as a result of 72 bed closures in the hospital recently.
23 patients waited on trolleys in Cavan General Hospital on the same morning, while four were reduced to same fate at the Midland Regional Hospital, Mullingar which also had it's amount of beds reduced by 41 since 2010. The figures released by the INMO (Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation) also informed the paper that 40 beds were closed between St Vincent's, Athlone/ St Mary's, Mullingar and St Joseph's, Longford (Care of Elderly Facilities). more.....