The deputy chief executive of St Vincent’s University Hospital said the situation faced by patients in the A&E department on 28 and 29 December was “exceptional”. He said a full complement of staff was on duty and there is no provision to draft in additional staff when the system becomes overburdened. He added that St Vincent’s, in common with many Dublin hospitals, was having difficulty recruiting and retaining all grades of staff.

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Well, these words weren’t written about the recent A&E situation across the country – sadly, they were written exactly 16 years ago this week and I have good reason to remember them. My mother was taken ill suddenly and we brought her to St Vincent’s. I remember the miserable waiting area with its harsh lightening, freezing draughts and uncomfortable chairs. And the crowds of people and the long, long wait to be seen. In what was only the second article I had written for this paper, I advised people to bring a pillow with them to the A&E. And, if they were waiting with someone, to pack a flask and sandwiches because there may only be a coffee vending machine available.

I urged people that no matter how long the wait and how much their patience was tested, not to take their frustration out on the hospital staff who were doing their best. In my naivety, I even suggested people should write a letter of complaint to the hospital or their local politician instead.

It took 21 hours from the time we arrived at the hospital to the time my mother was allocated a bed. By today’s standards, that was lightning fast. Yet it was still unacceptable and remains so.

Last Thursday, there were 427 sick people on trolleys and wards awaiting a hospital bed. The following day, 423 sick people were in the same situation as hospitals struggled to cope with heightened demand during the winter period. It’s the same story every year.

It’s no wonder the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has been threatening strike action. After all the promises, it’s easy to understand why so many of them have lost faith in the system.

More nurses recruited for A&E and firmer action to be taken on hospital overcrowding tops their agenda. The new agreement, which has averted rolling strikes in seven hospitals, involves strict monitoring of a series of measures that must be triggered to free up beds when the number of patients waiting more than six hours on a trolley reaches a certain level.

Minister for Health Leo Varadkar says he hopes that A&E nurses will regard the settlement proposals as sufficiently detailed and robust to address their concerns. The sad part is that it’s taken the threat of dramatic action by A&E nurses to get these proposals on the table and agreed.

Sixteen years after first writing about this issue, it’s hard to believe things are worse now. For the sake of nursing and medical staff, sick people and their families, indeed, for all our sakes, it’s important that these proposals are fully implemented and the situation in A&Es across the country is brought under control.