Varadkar urged to delay surgeries for two weeks to tackle trolley crisis

Health Minister Leo Varadkar has been urged to ban all planned surgeries for the next fortnight in a bid to stop the hospital trolley crisis spiralling out of control.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation repeated its pre-Christmas call after 264 people spent New Year’s Eve on emergency department trolleys — warning the 2015 budget leaves no “wiggle room” to tackle the issue.

INMO general secretary Liam Doran told the Irish Examiner the trolley crisis had steadily worsened since summer, with the July rate 8% higher than in 2013 and a 44% year-on-year November rise.