.
THERE are 40 patients waiting on trolleys at University Hospital Kerry today according to figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.
This is a record number at the hospital since the INMO started compiling figures based on daily checks in emergency departments and wards across the country in 2006. The figures are not disputed by the HSE.
Nationally, over 931 patients are without beds in Irish hospitals today. This is also the highest number of patients that have been without a hospital bed since the trade union began counting trolleys 16 years ago.
Continued below…
.
Commenting on today’s trolley figures, INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said: “Today’s numbers require immediate and serious intervention from the government.
“We do not need those at the top to describe how we got here; we need to know what exactly the plan is from today until the end of February. Just telling people to avoid hospitals is not a plan or indeed safe. The public need to know exactly what type of care they can expect over the next six weeks.”
“Our members are extremely disillusioned by the current set of circumstances they are working in. We are not seeing unsustainable overcrowding confined to a handful of hospitals, each hospital is facing significant overcrowding challenges, a trend which has continued to escalate since late summer. Our members are treating patients in inhumane and often unsafe conditions.
“We need Government to now make difficult decisions including the return of mandated mask-wearing in congregated settings. We know that one of the main pressure points in our health service is the rise of respiratory infections. Asking people to return to mask-wearing in busy congregated settings is a simple measure.”
“Over the coming days we need to see real tangible plans and decisions at a national level about the ensured safety in our acute public hospitals,” said Ms Ní Sheaghdha.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
