Who to blame for patients suffering on trolleys

IF the Health Minister and her advisers get their way, this may be the last time I am allowed to write to the Irish Examiner. Soon, I will be expected to “share any concerns” with my line manager rather than “go to the press”.

Moreover, another component of their campaign to get doctors to shut up (“distrust him, he’s a doctor”) may have become so effective that no one will actually believe me.

So here are some parting home truths your readers might bear in mind in the run-up to polling day. Every year, one-third of the population (and in Cork that means about 100,000 citizens) visit A&E departments. Every year, their experience gets worse. And every year since 2004, the ‘Minister from Dublin’ has asserted that the A&E situation is “improved”.