11,842 patients admitted to Irish hospitals without a bed in December

11,842 patients were admitted to Irish hospitals without a bed in the month of December.

Figures from the The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation show over 120,000 hospital patients, including 2,777 children, went without a bed in 2022.

This comes as Hospitals brace for a January surge in COVID-19, as China recently announced abandoning its Zero-COVID policy and lifting travel restrictions.

General Secretary of the INMO, Phil Ni Sheadhaga, says this situation was entirely predictable.