Minister declines to say whether targets for lowering trolley numbers can be reached

The numbers waiting on trolleys in our hospitals have reached an all time high.

Health minister Stephen Donnelly said it is very difficult to predict the impact of policies against hospital overcrowding and declined to say whether targets for lowering trolley numbers can be reached.

This comes as new waiting list data for non-urgent treatment shows while hospitals are treating far more patients this winter so many new patients need help targets are slipping here too.