The Irish Association for Emergency Medicine questions the commitment of the government and the HSE to addressing the scandal of ED crowding as yet more new trolley records are set. Recent confirmation that a record 57,674 admitted hospital in-patients were accommodated on trolleys for the first seven months of 2017 and, within this number, 5,880 patients over the age of 75 were forced to endure trolley waits of over 24 hours is a major cause for concern.
“Not alone does it confirm a further worsening of the already unacceptable situation; it also confirms that the commitment given in the 2017 HSE Service Plan that no patient over the age of 75 would be forced to wait more than 24 hours on a trolley has, like so many other targets, been ignored.
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