LETTER: Urgent action needed now to fix healthcare system

SIR – Some 714 patients languished on trolleys awaiting admission to a hospital bed one day earlier this month and nothing has changed since this glued-together government took power.

It seems to be getting worse by all accounts and is a national scandal. Is it possible that the suffering of patients is not registering with this government and that of all the doctors and nurses who are at the end of their tether, frustrated and exhausted, day-in and day-out, by continually being asked to do the impossible? Among those awaiting admission are children and I am calling on the HSE to declare a crisis in our country’s hospitals as a result of this government failing to fund the health system.

This crisis was entirely predictable. We know the problem is a lack of beds and that’s not rocket science. We need to enhance primary and social care services for patients to take the pressure off our hospitals

There is no point in blaming the weather, Simon Harris. We need urgent action and we need it now. No more excuses, we have had all those before.

Regards,

Noel Harrington,

Ardbrack,

Scilly,

Kinsale.