NURSES HAVE warned that patients could die because of overcrowding at the State’s second busiest emergency department.
Members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) and Siptu staged a four-hour work stoppage at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick yesterday to highlight their concern over staff shortages and overcrowding.
One hundred acute beds and 168 elderly care beds have been closed in the midwest as the HSE struggles to deal with a budget deficit in the region of €20 million.
The reconfiguration of emergency department services from Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s hospitals has seen activity levels at the emergency department increase by 30 per cent with up to 150 people accessing the emergency department every day, according to staff.
“At this stage it has come to dangerous levels,” clinical nurse manager Pauline O’Flaherty said.
“Health and safety, infection control, overcrowding are all completely in breach of national guidelines and we basically feel at this stage somebody must speak for the patients.”
Ms O’Flaherty said conditions at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital were worse than she had ever experienced.
“Last month was the worst August in history. We had up to 31 patients waiting on trolleys overnight for beds and some of those weren’t placed for up to 32 or 36 hours. I’ve never seen anything like this before. We really don’t know what’s going to happen. We have told management that we are working under dangerous conditions and that patient care is at risk,” she said.
Up to 30 nurses joined the picket line outside the hospital yesterday.
Management described yesterday’s action as dangerous and accused the unions of failing to co- operate in the organisation of emergency cover for the duration of the work stoppage.
Unions said the appropriate level of cover was in place during their action.
“The level of cover we are providing in the AE unit is half the number of staff that normally work and there is an emergency response team on standby ready to move into place if a situation arises that necessitates this,” Siptu’s Jim McGrath said.
The INMO has called on the Health Information and Quality Authority, An Bord Altranais and the Medical Council to inspect the Mid-Western and other hospitals to establish the impact on patient care safe practice arising from overcrowding.