Patients are being asked to consider other forms of care before attending an emergency department, as hospital overcrowding levels reach a record high.
931 people are currently waiting on trolleys across the country, 171 more than the previous record.
Overcrowding in hospitals has reached its highest levels since the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation began counting trolleys in 2006.
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931 people are without a bed, including 26 children.
University Hospital Limerick is the most overcrowded facility in the country with 97 patients on trolleys.
