The number of patients awaiting beds at University Hospital Waterford  in August was at its highest for a decade.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation have been recording numbers of patients waiting on hospital beds for over 10 years and say that the numbers recorded nationally last month were the highest ever for August.

The daily national trolly figure was higher every day in August than on the same day last year with an average daily increase of 28%

University Hospital Waterford was 5th highest in the country with 561 patients waiting on beds last month, up from 435 last August.

This is the highest number recorded for Waterford in August for a decade.

Commenting on the high numbers INMO general secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha said it is the tragic ongoing reality in Ireland’s health service to see 10,000 patients on trollies, which is bad enough during the summer months but these figures signal an even more dangerous winter.

She went on to say that the core of the problem is staffing and said the HSE recruitment has has got to go.

Nationally, 9,562 patients, including 48 children, were forced to wait on trolleys for a hospital bed last month – the highest ever recorded for August.

The INMO says the average daily total was 28 percent higher than last year, with Limerick, Cork and Galway worst affected.