'HSE must outline in detail plans to radically reduce overcrowding'

Statement by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation

Some 8,055 patients went without a bed in Irish hospitals in August, according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.

Their general secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said: “The number of patients cared for on trolleys and the length of time spent on trolleys, particularly older people, has been a cause of concern this summer.

"Our members have raised this issue as a serious breach of human dignity which impacts on the potential recovery and indeed the treatment of the issues causing people to attend emergency departments in the first place. This is a particularly acute issue in hospitals in the west and midwest where overcrowding has been out-of-control for much of the month of August.

“We must heed the warnings of our Australian colleagues who witnessed a record-breaking flu season this year. Our public health system cannot cope with a deluge of respiratory illnesses over the coming months.

“Each HSE regional health authority must outline in detail what it plans to do to radically reduce not just the number of patients being treated in inappropriate spaces but the amount of time a patient is spending on a trolley.

"Those who depend on our health services to function deserve to know that the HSE will have in place to ensure that care can be provided safely in the community over this traditionally busy time. Unless we see a hospital-by-hospital plan to tackle overcrowding, we are in for a very bleak winter in Irish hospitals which will see nurses and patients in extremely unsafe circumstances.

“Nurses and other healthcare staff will not continue to work in these environments. Predictable surges of healthcare needs must have a planned approach to deal with them.

"If the government and HSE are serious about retaining those who already work in the health service, needless bureaucratic delays to recruitment in the community and hospital nursing services must be removed and meaningful action must be taken to ensure safe care conditions for both patients and staff. No nurse wants to have to care for patients in sub-optimal conditions.”