Almost 9,500 patients were left waiting on hospital trolleys during the month of July, new figures have shown.

According to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), this is the highest July figure recorded since it started compiling daily trolley waiting lists in 2006.

A total of 9,439 patients were left waiting on trolleys this July, which is 33% higher than July 2018, when 7,089 were on trolleys.

It is also a massive 173% higher than July 2006, when 3,460 patients were on trolleys.

The worst hit hospitals this July were University Hospital Limerick (1,293 on trolleys), Cork University Hospital (1,079) and University Hospital Galway (707). The worst hit Dublin hospital was the Mater (560), while the worst hit children's hospital was Temple Street (24).

"Each day there are hundreds of patients languishing in corridors, waiting for a hospital bed and currently, over 700 patients cannot be discharged from hospital. In the meantime, hundreds of frontline nursing and midwifery posts are vacant due to the HSE's dysfunctional and bureaucratic employment control processes," commented the INMO's director of industrial relations, Tony Fitzpatrick.

He said that vital roles across all services and at all grades are being left unfilled, which is having a major impact on patient care.

"We expect increased demands on the health service in winter, but now even summer sees patients crammed into corridors on trolleys. It is creating unacceptable risks for patients and health workers alike," Mr Fitzpatrick added.