The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has said that services must be curtailed at UHG for safety reasons due to a lack of nurses.
According to the nurses and midwives union, they met with Saolta officials recently to discuss withdrawing or curtailing services at multiple hospitals due to understaffing.
The hospitals where medical services are being put under pressure due to a lack of staff include Galway, Letterkenny, Mayo, Merlin Park, Portiuncula, Roscommon, and Sligo University Hospitals the INMO said.
The INMO officials warned that Saolta management should be “gravely concerned” due to the high levels of missed care, delayed care and poor patient outcomes arising from the number of nursing and midwifery vacancies.
Anne Burke, INMO officer for Galway, Mayo, and Roscommon said “The INMO sought this meeting to see how management plan to curtail services, given so many nursing and midwifery vacancies.
She said that there are 64 staff nurse vacancies at University Hospital Galway, adding that understaffing like this is a “recipe for disaster”.
The INMO’s Trolley/Ward Watch says that there are 43 patients on trolleys at UGH today, making it once again the second most overcrowded hospital after UH Limerick.
“Our frontline members tell us that day staffing levels now resemble the night shift,” Anne Burke continued.
“We provided management with specific examples of missed care and impacts on patients, but services have still not been curtailed to ensure safe staffing.
The INMO representative concluding by warning that failing to either curtail services or hire more nurses would have a serious impact on patients and staff alike.
