Latest figures show drop in numbers waiting on hospital beds

Hospital overcrowding has eased somewhat on Thursday with 639 patients in emergency departments or on wards waiting for admission to a bed, according latest figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO).

The figures have dropped by 199 patients compared with yesterday's number, which was the second highest figure ever recorded.

The INMO recorded that another 166 people are in wards elsewhere in the hospital

Figures released by INMO are higher and differ to the HSE TrolleyGar figures as the union also counts patients on wards waiting for admission to a bed.

HSE figures show that overcrowding in hospitals stands at 469, including the children's hospitals, which have 13 patients waiting.

The HSE states that three times daily at 8 a.m., 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. acute hospitals report the number of patients in Emergency Departments awaiting admission to an inpatient hospital bed. 

According to INMO figures, Cork University had the highest number of patients waiting, with 56 waiting on a bed on Thursday morning. 

The next highest figure, 38, was at St James's Hospital in Dublin. 

Seven hospitals around the country had no patients waiting on beds.