Nurses to consider strike action as record hospital overcrowding continues

The new 60-bed block at University Hospital Limerick.

The general secretary of the Irish Nurses and Midwives organisation says nurses will consider striking, if the situation in emergency departments doesn’t improve.

Phil Ní Sheaghdha says nurses are not satisfied it has taken a crisis situation for action to be taken.

The latest INMO trolley watch count recorded 838 people waiting without a bed in hospitals today.

It’s a fall of 93 on yesterday’s record figure, but is still the second highest number since records began.

University Hospital Limerick continues to have the highest number of patients waiting on trolleys at 76 while there are 14 at TUH in Clonmel and 11 at Nenagh Hospital.

Phil Ní Sheaghdha says all options, including a strike, at an emergency INMO meeting on Friday.

Meanwhile, a North Tipperary councillor says that the by-pass protocols last week at UHL were a blatant admission of failure.

Cllr. Seamie Morris says that the crisis at the local facility comes on top of the collapse of Shannon Doc over the Christmas period.

He told Tipp Today that despite numerous investigation management continue to fail to follow through on any of their promises.

Cllr. Morris says there should be a report done on Waterford Hospital, which continues to have no patients on trolleys, while also stating that this crisis was predicted.

“What I am hearing is that HIQA are due to go into Limerick today and hospital management are clearing up and cleaning up and moving trolleys all over the places. From patients testimonies over the last few days I mean words that are being used are ‘inhumane’, ‘inappropriate’ and it’s being called a national basket case by consultants across the country, so the Mid-West is being really poorly served by the emergency health service, but I mean this was all predicted.”

He also says getting a trolley at UHL is ‘nearly an award’ at the moment and he thinks there should be an urgent meeting between the hospital management, Chief Executives of the concerned County Councils, the Health Forum, and fire chiefs, to try get a handle on the situation.

He told Tipp Today that patients at this stage aren’t even being triaged and was critical of all Tipperary TDs for their silence on the matter referencing one meeting where he called for a public apology.

“Our own TDs didn’t say a word and they have said nothing absolutely nothing over the last four or five months…so what kind of representation are we getting from our own TDs, and by the way at that same meeting I actually had the courage to ask Paul Reid if he would take the opportunity to apologise to the people of the Mid-West for the scandalous emergency hospital service that we have here and he refused, there as loud guffaw from the TDs there on the day and none of them had the courage to stand up and encourage Paul Reid to apologise for what is happening.”