€24m A&E unit will not eliminate patients on trolleys

PROVIDING a €24 million A&E department at Cork University Hospital will not solve the problem of patients being kept on trolleys, an A&E consultant warned yesterday.

“There were 18 patients on trolleys when I started work this morning and there will be around the same number when I finish tonight, because we do not have any beds for them upstairs,” said Dr Stephen Cusack, as Health Minister Mary Harney visited the city hospital yesterday.

CUH is the country’s only level one trauma centre and the largest hospital in Munster. While Dr Cusack welcomed the €24 million A&E unit, which will be opened in March, he said it would not solve the problem of patients on trolleys.