A&E task force forbidden to discuss issues of overcrowding

MEMBERS of the Accident & Emergency task force were forbidden from raising the question of using more acute hospital beds to relieve overcrowding in casualty, it has been claimed.

Task force member, Dr Gerard Lane, also warned in a recent email to members of the Irish Association of Emergency Medicine (IAEM) that key decisions were made for the task force by the Health Service Executive (HSE).

He said the task force was forbidden from considering bed capacity or any solutions that could not be implemented before January 2007.