Doctors warn: 350 deaths due to trolley crisis

Three hundred and fifty people will die needlessly in hospital emergency departments next year unless Health Minister Simon Harris definitively addresses the trolley count crisis in next week’s budget.

The Irish Association of Emergency Medicine (IAEM) issued the dire warning last night as it urged the Government to prioritise health, despite promises of tax cuts and across-the-board welfare payment rises.

With the budget now just four days away, the Irish Examiner understands the Coalition is still planning a €5 pension increase, similar rises for lone parents and people on the dole, and a new welfare payment for children at risk of poverty.