A&E crisis has 'become a farce'

THE crisis in the A&E departments of hospitals has descended into farce, according to the Irish Nurses Organisation.

An INO spokesperson said yesterday that hospital managements are increasingly denying the extent of the problem and some hospitals are withholding figures in relation to the numbers of patients on trolleys every day.

The organisation has begun to release daily figures which show that an average of 200 patients are left lying on hospital trolleys waiting for beds.