Extra beds promised to tackle A&E crisis

Health Minister Leo Varadkar has said that up to 200 additional community beds will be opened and staffed by the middle of the month to deal with hospital overcrowding.

Yesterday, there were 518 people on trolleys in emergency departments (397) and wards (121) as the minister said hundreds of additional nurses were “in the process” of being hired.

Fianna Fáil’s health spokesman, Billy Kelleher, said there was now a real fear that last month’s record 601 trolley figure could be matched or exceeded.