Over 10,000 people have gone without a bed at Cork University Hospital so far this year.
That's according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation who say it’s the earliest this figure of admitted patients has been recorded.
CUH has been identifed as among five of the worst hit hospitals in the country for overcrowding.
Over 100,000 people around the country have been treated on trolleys at hospitals around the country so far this year.
University Hospital Limerick has been identified as the worst-hit in the country with Cork University Hospital the second most overcrowded last year with 10,107 patients on trolleys so far this year.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has been warning of unprecedented overcrowding this year since early summer and are calling for practical planning in advance of what they've described as this "predicted unsafe situation".
The trade union has called for a four-pronged approach to tackle overcrowding and the recruitment and retention crisis including the cancellation of non-urgent elective care in public hospitals and use of private hospitals for this work.
It also wants to see the prioritisation of funding for publicly delivered long term care in the community.
The INMO say it's time the Government stepped in to deal with this unsafe, unacceptable and inhumane situation.
