National Emergency Plan 'not worth the paper it's written on'
The Government's National Emergency Plan "is not worth the paper it's written on", pressure group Patients Together said today.
The group said the case of Peg McEntee, the 77-year-old woman left on a trolley in an accident and emergency department for days, highlights that Ireland's health service is creaking under daily pressure which is going unnoticed in the corridors of power.
Peg McEntee was on a trolley in the accident and emergency unit of the Mater hospital in Dublin for four days and her family publicly lambasted "third world" conditions that their mother had to endure.
An ambulance was called to take Mrs McEntee from her Glasnevin home to hospital on Monday evening on the recommendation of her doctor.
Some 17 hours later, after she had spent time on a trolley, tests diagnosed that she had suffered a heart attack.
The case is the latest to put the spotlight on how Ireland's health service is being run.
Patient's Together spokesperson Janette Byrne warned that hundreds are in a similar predicament daily across the country in a state which has just spent €2m circulating householders with details of it's National Emergency Plan.
Ms Byrne said the nation's ability to handle a major emergency are called into serious question by the events of the past 24 hours.
