The Western Health Board said that hospitals in the region were "under pressure but coping" yesterday. In University College Hospital Galway (UCHG), 82 beds in three wards were closed, and 65 beds were vacant, and there was a "steady flow" of patients through the accident and emergency department.
Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar, which received a positive public response to its appeal for assistance in bed-making over the weekend, had five wards closed yesterday Accident and emergency was also busy.
There were 20 vacant beds in Roscommon County Hospital Accident and emergency was also brisk.
Mr Colm Keaveney of SIPTU and the Galway Nursing Alliance said that emergency cover in UCHG yesterday was "100 per cent", and nurses who were marked on leave had turned up to support the pickets and help out with pool cover.
