Over 70,000 patients were left waiting on trolleys in hospitals nationwide last year, figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) have shown.

According to the INMO, 70,275 patients were left waiting on trolleys in 2021, a 31% increase on 2020’s figure.

The worst affected hospital during 2021 was University Hospital Limerick (12,108), followed by Cork University Hospital (7,411), Letterkenny University Hospital and University Hospital Galway (5,027).

INMO general secretary, Phil Ni Sheaghdha, said that the fact that trolley figures have increased by 31% during the second year of a pandemic “is completely unacceptable”.

“Hospital overcrowding should never be acceptable, especially when we have a highly transmissible virus. Radical action is now needed to curb the unacceptable levels of overcrowding in our hospitals.

“This is not a new phenomenon - the health service cannot continue to make the same decisions year in and year out and expect different outcomes,” she insisted.

Ms Ni Sheaghdha emphasised that nurses and midwives are “running on empty”.

“They are looking for some kind of indication from their employer that things will be different this year. The commitment nurses and midwives have shown, especially in the last month with the arrival of Omicron, has been exemplary. While many staff are on Covid-related sick leave, others are cancelling leave and staying longer than they are rostered to ensure patients are looked after,” she noted.

She added that the INMO “has raised red flag, after red flag with the HSE and government”.

“We need to see urgent action by curtailing all non-emergency activity in our public hospitals,” she added.