Time to declare national emergency as ‘third-world conditions’ cause trolley crisis to soar

Consultants have demanded the hospital overcrowding crisis be declared a “national emergency”, as the numbers on trolleys hit 760 yesterday during the worst day on record.

The stark admission echoes a similar declaration from then health minister Mary Harney in 2006, who promised that every resource would be put in place to ensure no-one would have to wait more than six hours after assessment.