INO conference exposes Health Service in crisis

A LITANY of ward closures, A&E overcrowding problems and appalling services for the elderly have been outlined by angry delegates attending the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) annual conference in Galway.

INO general secretary Liam Doran said the cutbacks announced this week by Dublin’s five leading hospitals were “the tip of the iceberg” and the catalyst that had provoked members into speaking publicly about local services. He also warned of covert cuts by health agencies around the country.

“We need to be very wary of that, of health agencies cutting by stealth to avoid the kind of outcry caused by the Dublin hospital cutbacks.”