Leo must deliver on bed vows

THE fact Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has come out and said the current trolley crisis is “not defensible” is unbelievable.

For the leader of the Government, the leader of our country to say it’s not good enough, says it all.

There were more than 400 patients waiting for a hospital bed yesterday morning yet the Taoiseach insisted the Government was doing all it could to alleviate the problem.

He said plans to increase bed capacity were ongoing and the Health Minister will present his review to the Cabinet within a few days.

For many, including those lying on hospital beds for days, this is not good enough.

When Mr Varadkar was Health Minister a few years ago he said he was going to make it a priority to resolve the problem.

He has said he does not want any citizen “to face the indignity or clinical risk that comes with long stays on hospital trolleys”, yet that is exactly what is happening.

Surely being a qualified doctor and having worked in the health service himself, he should know this is not acceptable and can’t continue.

He said 2,500 extra inpatient beds will be needed come 2031.

However, many would say if the Government can’t deal with the current trolley crisis there is no way they stand a chance of implementing this in that timeframe.

Mr Varadkar needs to step up now and deliver on the promises he made years ago.