Nurses give hospital a week to solve A&E bed crisis

NURSES close to burn-out gave hospital managers one week last night to solve a beds crisis in a new €30 million accident and emergency unit.

The Irish Nurses’ Organisation (INO) said management at Cork University Hospital (CUH) must double the capacity of a special section in its A&E from 12 beds to 24 to ease the crisis.

The unit, dubbed the country’s poshest A&E, opened on July 4, but INO officer Patsy Doyle said the situation is worse this winter than last with a record number of patients waiting on trolleys this week.