More than 700 medically fit patients are stuck in hospital beds across the country because they cannot be safely discharged.

They are waiting for proper step-down supports.

Overcrowding in hospitals across the country hit an all-time high in recent months with 746 delayed discharges at one point waiting for the appropriate support to be in place before they left hospital.

According to today's Herald, the problem has eased slightly with the release of more nursing-home places in the last fortnight.

There are 724 delayed discharges in hospitals around the country.

Included in that list are 76 patients at Beaumont Hospital, 64 in St James's Hospital and 41 in the Mater Hospital.

It is also an issue outside Dublin, with another 29 patients occupying beds in Cork University Hospital, 22 in Limerick and 21 in Waterford.

Meanwhile, there are 18 delayed discharges in Letterkenny and 17 in Cavan.

Authorities say that the pressures of the A&E trolley crisis will escalate over winter when hospitals will be in dire need of extra beds.