Number of people waiting for treatment in Ireland's hospitals reached all-time high
Thursday 21 January 2010 | Posted by: Admin
We wrote recently about the fact that the number of people awaiting treatment on trolleys in Ireland's hospitals was in danger of reaching the levels of 2006- 485- which prompted Health Minister Mary Harney to declare as a 'state of emergency'. As of yesterday, the Irish Nursing and Midwives Association (INMO) have indicated that accident and emergency wards are at 'breaking point' as they treated a record 500 patients. Dave Hughes, INMO deputy general secretary, called on the government, who have denied the INMO stated figures, to address what he feels has become a 'human rights issue'. The HSE blamed busy AandE units on the number of people suffering falls during Ireland's coldest wintry spell for forty years, and the outbreak of the wintry vomiting bug.