Accident and emergency crisis: Persistent, intolerable failure

By any criteria, it is a terrible indictment of us all, especially our recurring, seemingly irredeemable inability to properly manage our public affairs, that at one point yesterday, for the first time ever, more than 600 people were on trolleys in hospital accident and emergency wards.

Mistreatment on this grand scale is profoundly disrespectful to both patients and hospital staff but, at this stage, the impact goes far beyond health issues.

This entirely predictable shambles has a deeply negative impact on our national self-esteem, our international image, the morale of hospital staff, and our over-stretched ability to believe that we, through our political and public administration organisations, are capable of rebuilding a broken system.