Urgent steps need to be taken to avoid a surge in hospital overcrowding ahead of the Easter Bank Holiday weekend.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation is calling on the HSE to take action this weekend in order to alleviate pressure next week.
This comes after a meeting the INMO had with senior management last week to discuss the Bank Holiday weekend.
INMO General Secretary Phil Nà Sheaghdha said, “Our members are concerned at the very high levels of overcrowding leading into the Easter period.”
At University Hospital Galway today, there are 61 patients on trolleys, the third highest level in the country, and close behind the 62 at Cork UH.
PhÃl NÃ Sheaghdha added that the INMO have, “set out the necessary immediate steps that must be taken to alleviate pressure across hospital sites.”
“We know that after every bank holiday there is a predictable surge in the number of people on trolleys.
“Therefore, all efforts to increase discharges, including over the long weekend period must be undertaken.”
Additional hospital capacity should be obtained from the private sector for the weekend, the INMO has advised, and “alternative care pathways” in the community must be brought into use.
