This article first appeared on Galway Bay FM

The INMO is calling on the HSE to take emergency measures to deal with hospital overcrowding in the West.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has issued a statement, saying the level of overcrowding in this region is of huge concern.

As of this morning, there are 490 patients nationally without a bed, with 34 percent of those in the West and North West

There are 54 patients being treated on trolleys at UHG, and another five at Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe.

INMO Assistant Director of Industrial Relations for the West, Colm Porter, has been speaking to our reporter Sarah Slevin