Appalling overcrowding inside Cork University Hospital on Monday night forced doctors to start turning people away, as there was not a single bed available at the facility.
Outside, ambulances waited to deliver more patients, and many vehicles remained parked there for many hours.
Shortly after 10.30pm, A&E was so crowded that doctors had no choice but to start sending people home. They had run out of beds, trolleys, and chairs.
Successive ministers have pledged to ‘end’ overcrowding, but all have been wholly unsuccessful in doing so. The situation has become steadily worse over the last few years, and deaths will inevitably occur as a result of this appalling standard of care.