McManus criticises A&E crisis response

THE Government’s much vaunted plan to alleviate the A&E crisis was a complete shambles, Labour health spokeswoman Liz McManus said yesterday.

The Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) is demanding an emergency response to the crisis after it reported there were 422 people on trolleys in hospitals across the country on Tuesday and 406 yesterday.

“Exactly a year after the Government promised to alleviate the crisis by April 2005 - a commitment that was subsequently put back to the autumn - the situation in A&E units across the country is chaotic,” said Ms McManus.

At the core of this problem was a complete lack of political leadership, she said.

“We know when Government goes in, for example, to resolving problems in Northern Ireland, that great improvements can be made,” she said.

When it came to sick and vulnerable people who are dependent on good quality healthcare, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern had nothing to say and Tánaiste and Minister for Health Mary Harney offered no solution except to spread blame as widely as she could.

“The reality is that the Government has to bear responsibility for this shambles,” she said.

Meanwhile, the INO has accused the Health Service Executive (HSE) of being in “abject denial” about A&E overcrowding.

INO general secretary Liam Doran said he believed the HSE was the only body that felt the situation was improving.

The fundamental problem was the health service did not have enough beds to deal with a population of four million.