The numbers of patients waiting on trolleys and chairs in hospital emergency departments has fallen to 361, a reduction of more than 200 since Wednesday, according to figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.
Patients face the longest wait at Cork University Hospital - where there were 36 people waiting for a bed in the emergency department this morning - and at Tallaght Hospital in Dublin, where there were 32.
Lengthy waiting lists were also reported by the Inmo today at Beaumont in Dublin (29), University Hospital Galway (21) and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda (21).
A record headcount of 569 people were on trolleys and chairs in emergency departments on Wednesday of last week, which doctors claimed was creating a grave situation for all patients. The Inmo said the very high numbers of patients on trolleys waiting for beds was primarily due to more than 1,000 acute hospital beds being closed.
The Health Service Executive said increasing numbers of swine flu cases were to blame for the spike in waiting times last week. The claim was disputed by the Irish Association for Emergency Medicine (IAEM).
The Department of Health said individual hospital had opened beds, cancelled and deferred elective procedures and the used day wards for emergency department activity to ease the problem.
