Trolleys instead of beds: Must do better

ACCORDING to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation — and there is absolutely no reason not to believe them — there were 518 patients on hospital trolleys at one point yesterday, the seventh highest figure recorded since the union began keeping records a decade ago.

Millions of words have been written on the issue and millions of euro have been spent trying to break the bottleneck, but year after year, and health minister after health minister, the problem recurs.

The incumbent, Leo Varadkar, has expressed his frustration with this seemingly irredeemable situation.

He has also expressed his determination to resolve it. He set up an emergency department taskforce and this group held its first meeting on Monday.

The nurses will say resources are needed to resolve the crisis and Government voices will point out, as if they needed to, that resources are scarcer than they might wish.

One thing is certain, though: This demeaning symptom of the dysfunction in our health service must finally be resolved.