A total of 883 patients have been on trolleys at Mayo University Hospital since the start of this year.

New figures released by the INMO show that in the first 8 months of 2017, there were 883 patients on trolleys at the Castlebar hospital, 1300 at Portiuncla in Ballinasloe, 1387 at Sligo University Hospital and 4,331 on trolleys at Galway University Hospital.

The Galway hospital has the third-highest number of patients on trolleys to date this year, after Cork and Limerick University Hospitals.

Last month alone, 643 patients were treated on trolleys at Galway University Hospital – up from 400 in August 2016.

Meanwhile, there are 28 people waiting for admission to a bed today at UHG, according to the latest trolley watch, with 12 on trolleys at Mayo University Hospital, 10 in Sligo and 8 on trolleys at Portiuncla.

The Emergency Department Implementation Group is meeting this afternoon to discuss the overcrowding crisis, which the INMO says should be treated as a national emergency.