Nurses ‘dreading’ festive season chaos in A&E

ACCIDENT and emergency nurses throughout the country are dreading Christmas and the New Year.

“They are dreading the festive season because 2003 has been the worst year ever in their experience,” said SIPTU national nursing official Oliver McDonagh yesterday. Instead of putting more beds into the system, all the major hospitals in Dublin were closing them, he said.

While funds of €5.8 million had helped to process 260 patients the vacated beds were re-occupied just as quickly with new patients, he said.