Over 7,700 patients were left waiting on trolleys and chairs in hospitals nationwide last month, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has revealed.

According to its latest Trolley/Ward Watch figures, 7,765 admitted patients were treated without hospital beds in September. Sixty-eight of these were under the age of 16.

The worst affected hospitals were University Hospital Limerick (894 patients on trolleys), Cork University Hospital (781), University Hospital Galway (609) and Letterkenny University Hospital (502).

While the overall figure represents a small decrease of 4% when compared to the same period in 2017, it also represents a 58% increase when compared to just five years ago, when 4,930 patients were waiting on trolleys, and a 75% increase compared to 10 years ago, when 4,443 were on trolleys.

Commenting on the figures, INMO general secretary, Phil Ni Sheaghdha, said that while this many people on trolleys should be considered a national crisis, ‘it's become business as usual in the Irish health service'.

"Our members are telling us that they can't go on with this number of unfilled vacancies. It's not safe for patients and it's not safe for staff. The HSE simply cannot hire enough nurses and midwives on these wages. Unless pay increases, vacancies will remain open, wards will remain understaffed and things will only get worse," she insisted.

Following a decision at a recent special delegate conference, INMO members are due to be balloted in the coming weeks on whether to accept pay proposals put forward by the Government. The INMO is recommending that its members reject these proposals as it does not think they go far enough.

Rejection of the pay proposals could lead to strike action.