More than 20 patients on trolleys in Portiuncula this morning

There were 24 patients on trolleys awaiting beds at Portiuncula Hospital this morning (Monday).

The number on trolleys at the Ballinasloe facility was above average and represented the highest number of patients without beds at a hospital in the Midlands region today.

At the Midland Regional Hospital, Mullingar, there were five patients on trolleys earlier today, with five patients on trolleys also at the Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise. No patients on trolleys were reported at the Midland Regional Hospital, Tullamore.

The figures were issued by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), which publishes 'trolley watch' statistics for the country's hospitals each weekday.

Nationally, a total of 565 admitted patients were waiting for beds this morning, according to the INMO.

Of these, 380 patients were waiting in an emergency department, while 185 were in wards elsewhere in a hospital.