Hospital overcrowding with record trolley figures is "distressing and detrimental" for patients and staff, according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Association.

It said the Government must take action as over 8,717 patients have been without a bed in April.

INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said nurses are not working in safe environments and this will be highlighted at the INMO conference this week.

She told RTÉ's Saturday with Katie Hannon they will be seeking a response from the Minister for Health.

"The worst day for overcrowding in any Irish hospital since the INMO began our Trolley Watch occurred on 21 April in University Hospital Limerick with over 126 patients without a bed.

"If we are breaking records in April, what hope do we have in the winter months?"

Last week, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly ordered an expert team to be sent to University Hospital Limerick to assist with the level of hospital overcrowding there.

He said he had asked the Health Service Executive to provide the team to help UHL managers.

Ms Ní Sheaghdha said: "While we welcome that Minister Donnelly has requested that a review be carried out in the hospital, it must be carried out by independent experts, not internally by the HSE.

"Nurses must be central participants of any review of the hospital."

She also said trolley numbers should not be taken for granted as she described how "distressing and detrimental" overcrowding is for both patients and staff.

"The problem of record-breaking overcrowding has not just been confined to University Hospital Limerick. There is a real problem with overcrowding all along the western seaboard.

"It has been the worst April on record for Mayo University Hospital and Sligo University Hospital."

The INMO said the HSE must uphold its obligation as an employer to provide a safe workplace.

Ms Ní Shéaghdha said her members will be seeking more powers be given to the Health and Safety Authority to investigate healthcare settings.

Earlier this week, she said the HSE was taken to court by the HSA and fined because of an incident in Co Meath where nurses had been assaulted in the workplace.

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