Cabinet committee meets to discuss state of A&E crisis
A Cabinet sub-committee is meeting today to discuss progress in the Government's efforts to tackle overcrowding in hospital accident and emergency units.
The problem has been ongoing for several years, but Minister for Health Mary Harney announced a range of measures earlier this year in an effort to alleviate the situation.
The measures have so far had little effect, with the Irish Nurses Organisation reporting almost 300 patients waiting on trolleys in A&E units throughout the country yesterday.
Despite this, Ms Harney said yesterday that she expected improvements later this year.
"We have a large number of people currently in the acute hospital system, particularly in Dublin, who don't need to be there," she said.
"If we were to ensure that people were able to leave the acute hospital system when they were no longer required to be there, it would greatly alleviate the pressure on A&E and I think you will see hopefully some further improvements later this year."
