Galway Bay fm newsroom - New figures have revealed a significant deterioration in the number of people on trolleys at University Hospital Galway and Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe.
A report from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has analysed trolley figures at hospitals across the country during the month of March from 2006 to 2017.
It shows 638 were waiting on trolleys at UHG last month - that's an increase of almost 20 percent on the figure for March 2016 and the worst March on record since 2006.
Meanwhile, there were 259 people on trolleys at Portiuncula last month - that's an increase of 200 percent on the figure for March 2016.
It's also the worst March on record for the Ballinasloe facility in over ten years.
Liam Doran of the INMO says more staff are needed.
