Over 140 patients waited on trolleys in University Hospital Kerry throughout May.
That's according to figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives' Organisation
The INMO figures show that 146 patients were on trolleys in UHK during the month of May, that's a rise when compared to the same month last year when 78 people waited on trolleys.
In 2020, during the pandemic just eight people were on trolleys during May while there were 209 people waiting for a bed in UHK i nMay of 2019, before the pandemic hit.
The same month in 2018 marked the highest number of people waiting for a bed at the Tralee-based hospital since records began in 2006; it stood at 272.
There were 234 waiting on trolleys in 2017 there; the lowest figure, outside of the pandemic, was in 2009 when just 11 people were waiting on trolleys at UHK during the month.
INMO General Secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha, who is from Ventry, says it's been another extremely difficult month for nurses and midwives.
She says May is traditionally a time when pressure begins to ease ni hospitals, but INMO members had no reprieve last month.
