A&E delays - Broken promises

IT is unacceptable that nearly 16,000 people had to wait for more than 12 hours in hospital accident and emergency departments last year.

These terrible delays break a government promise that no one would have to wait more than 12 hours for treatment and their initial assessment. One woman had to endure a 29-hour wait in Beaumont Hospital after her initial assessment.

When a person, especially a child or an older person, are sick and in need of immediate attention they are at their most vulnerable and are unlikely to be comforted by delays. In a normal time issues like these would be enough to discomfort a government at election time, but in these extraordinary days they represent just another failure so indicative of Ireland today.