Managing A&E 'like a massive game of Jenga'
BBC News NI has been granted exclusive access to the emergency department at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast as part of a BBC-wide spotlight on emergency care across the United Kingdom.
Throughout the day, staff manoeuvred trolleys through very tight areas as they attempted to find available space for the patients.
In one area, known as acute care, trolleys were lined up head to toe with staff having to squeeze between them in order to check patients and to deliver food.
Michael Thompson is lead nurse in charge of patient flow between the department and wards.
"It's like a massive game of Jenga," he said.
"There's just no flow going out. Our front door is massive but our back door is tiny and it just keeps shrinking."