HSE assures nurses on efforts to tackle hospital overcrowding

Nurses have received an assurance from the Department of Health and the HSE on efforts to tackle hospital overcrowding.

A spokesperson for the HSE said last night that the health authority remains “fully committed” to implementing the emergency department taskforce agreement.

Liam Doran, the general secretary of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, said the agreement includes the filling of all vacant nursing posts and additional staff to deal with admitted patients.

All of the parties were involved in talks on a review of the agreement at the Workplace Relations Commission that started on Monday and continued yesterday.

Mr Doran said he was glad the agreement was “back on track”. While it was good news, he said he was not losing sight of the fact that emergency departments are under the highest level of pressure this month.

The INMO’s Trolley and Ward Watch showed that 475 people were waiting to be admitted to hospital beds yesterday: 352 on trolleys and 123 on wards.

University Hospital Limerick had the highest number of people awaiting admission at 39 — 28 on trolleys and 11 on wards.

Beaumont Hospital in Dublin was also under pressure with 38 people awaiting admission — 34 on trolleys and four on wards.

The HSE’s TrolleyGAR shows that 404 patients were waiting on trolleys in emergency departments yesterday, with 213 waiting over nine hours.

The INMO said that, despite the deal, there had been an 18% increase in admitted patients on trolleys during the first two weeks of March, compared to the same period last year.

He said management had restated that all vacant nursing posts and other posts needed to deal with admitted patients in emergency departments or wards would be advertised and filled as a matter of urgency.

Mr Doran said there had been concern about the filling of all vacant nursing posts and extra posts to care safely for patients.

He said while he accepted it would take time to recruit people to permanent nursing posts, there was provision for incentivised recruitment and flexible work patterns.

Mr Doran had criticised some hospitals for failing to respond much earlier to the signs of overcrowding and avoid the need for trolleys and extra beds in wards.

He said routine admissions for non-emergency surgical and medical procedures would continue to be postponed or cancelled due to existing bed capacity.

Mr Doran said that an extra 1,500 acute beds are needed because more frail elderly people need to be admitted.