30 patients on trolleys at mullingar hospital as inmo members prepare for lunchtime protest

Members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) are staging a lunchtime protest today, from 1 to 2pm, to highlight continued overcrowding and poor staffing levels in the Midland Regional Hospital, Mullingar.

The numbers of patients on trolleys, both in the ED and throughout the hospital, are now at record levels.

Figures for December 2014 show a 253% increase, compared to December 2013, with 409 sick and vulnerable people on trolleys waiting for an in-patient bed in the hospital during that period.

30 patients are waiting for a bed this morning.

The INMO is demanding that the Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar, intervene directly to allow Midland Regional Hospital, Mullingar recruit additional nurses and midwives.

The Organisation is also seeking that additional step-down beds are opened in St Mary’s Hospital, Mullingar and in St Joseph’s Hospital, Longford.

Speaking today, INMO Industrial Relations Officer, Derek Reilly, stated:

“It is acknowledged by the HSE that the Emergency Department in Mullingar is one of the most poorly staffed in the country. An additional 10 nurses have been promised, since last September, but to date not one interview has taken place.”

 Mr Reilly continued: “Staff in the Midland Regional Hospital, Mullingar are working in a state of crisis on a daily basis. Furthermore, patients in the hospital have had to put up with the indignity of being cared for on trolleys for far too long. Mullingar is now in a critical situation with patient care being compromised.”