HOSPITALS:A NUMBER of acute hospitals have been allowing staff to sleep over in vacant beds or accommodating them in nearby hotels to ensure services are maintained. The Health Service Executive confirmed yesterday that Sligo and Letterkenny General Hospitals have arranged accommodation at hotels for staff unable to travel to work.
In the northwest and west roads have been in a dangerous condition since before Christmas.
“Given many staff live long distances from the hospitals, many in rural locations, we have made arrangements with some local hotels to allow staff to stay over.
“This ensures continuity of service as we couldn’t be sure given the conditions that staff would be able to make it to work and our priority is to maintain services for our patients,” a HSE spokeswoman said.
Accommodation is also being arranged where necessary for staff at Wexford General Hospital and St Luke’s Hospital, Kilkenny, a spokesman for the HSE said.
Vacant beds at hospitals in Cork, Kerry and Cavan have been used by staff during the frosty weather to ensure they would be available for early morning shifts. Some staff have stayed over and slept in Cavan General Hospital to be available to work their shifts, the HSE said.
Public health nurses in many areas are having to postpone visits to people in isolated areas due to the condition of roads.
Meanwhile, four postmen were hospitalised in Dublin yesterday following accidents while on duty, An Post has said. Hundreds of postal staff have suffered injuries through slips and falls in the poor weather conditions.
Postal services around the country were severely disrupted by cold weather yesterday.
Social welfare recipients outside the capital who were to receive their payments by cheque on Wednesday will be able to collect them from their local postal delivery offices from 11am this morning.
The cheques were available for those in Dublin from yesterday afternoon.