Members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation have condemned the decision to close a ward at University Hospital Limerick.
As a result, the hospital, which provides emergency department cover for North Tipp will see a reduction of 17 beds.
According to management at UHL, the closure of Ward 1A is to facilitate the completion of works on the new fracture unit.
This news comes in advance of the 60 bed modular unit that is supposed to alleviate the strain on the hospital.
Mary Fogarty is Industrial Relations Officer with the INMO, felt it was a bizarre decision.
UHL is tied with Cork University Hospital today as the most overcrowded hospital in the country, with 50 people awaiting a bed.
South Tipp General in Clonmel has 40 patients without a bed this afternoon.
