A&E report - Findings confirm our worst fears

ANYONE who ever suffered the traumatic experience of queuing at an overcrowded accident and emergency department is painfully aware of just how bad hospital facilities can be in Ireland.

Now, for the first time, endorsing public complaints, an official study has described A&E departments in at least seven hospitals across the country as “not fit for the purpose”.

Carried out for the Health Service Executive, the damning study says that a maximum waiting target of six hours, for either admission or discharge, should be set for patients after they arrive at the A&E unit.