The number of patients on trolleys last month at University Hospital Galway was more than 5 times higher than the number for August ten years ago.

That’s according to new figures released today by the Irish Nurses & Midwives Organisation, which confirms that the level of hospital overcrowding remains at a record high, with a 27% increase nationally in August, compared to August 2016.

The figures were released ahead of this afternoon’s meeting of the national Emergency Department Implementation Group.

Last week, Galway University Hospital topped the list on several days in succession, for having the highest number of patients on trolleys across all of Ireland’s hospitals.

Today, the INMO has released figures for the month of August, with Galway University Hospital having the second-highest number of patients on trolleys, after University Hospital Limerick.

Over the past 4 weeks, there were 643 patients on trolleys in the Emergency Department or wards at UHG – that’s a five-fold increase on the 123 patients on trolleys during the month of August 2007, and up from 400 on trolleys in August last year.

Portiuncla Hospital also saw an increase in the number of patients on trolleys last month, compared to August 2016, with 52 patients on trolleys at the Ballinasloe hospital over the past 4 weeks.

However, both Mayo and Sligo University Hospitals saw a decrease in the numbers on trolleys – at the Mayo hospital, there were 114 patients on trolleys last month, compared to 175 in August 2016, and in Sligo there were 90 on trolleys last month, down from 144 in August last year.

Nationally, 7,781 patients were on trolleys across the country last month – an increase of 27% on August 2016.