12 patients waiting on a bed at St Luke’s General Hospital for Carlow and Kilkenny

12 patients are waiting on a bed at St Luke’s General Hospital for Carlow and Kilkenny today.

Seven are at the local emergency department with five on other wards.

They’re among 450 waiting at public hospitals nationwide today according to the Irish Nurses & Midwives Organisation’s daily Trolley Watch.

It’s as healthcare workers across the country continue to be balloted for industrial action by the INMO and Fórsa as a follow-on to protests members have been staging, including at St Luke’s last week.