150 people on trolleys over two days at hospital

HEALTH Minister Mary Harney is facing new calls for her resignation over the country’s ongoing emergency department crisis, after almost 150 people were left waiting on trolleys at a major hospital over two days this week.

More than three years after Ms Harney described the situation as “a national emergency” and claimed she would address concerns immediately, the Irish Nurses Organisation’s (INO) trolley count revealed 73 people were left waiting for emergency care at the Adelaide and Meath Hospital in Tallaght on Tuesday.

The figure, the highest ever recorded by the INO, was almost repeated the following day when 68 people were on trolleys at the same hospital.