Emergency department system 'imploding' due to lack of care packages
The pressure on hospital emergency departments has been linked to the difficulty in obtaining care packages for elderly people either in the community or at home.
Patients cannot be moved out of hospital unless there is someone available to care for them.
As BBC News NI's Maggie Taggart reports, one care company says the system is "imploding" with another predicting a lack of finance will put it out of business "within months".