Hospital workers call for higher ratio of nurses to patients

Claire O’Sullivan in Killarney

Citing Australia, where every four patients in a busy urban hospital are entitled to one nurse and where smaller rural hospitals have 6:1 ratios, delegates in Killarney, Co Kerry, said such a move had led to 4,000 Australian nurses returning to the health services and reduced sick leave.

The delegates said such a move was “even more important” in the wake of revelations that health service employers wanted to put extra beds into acute hospitals wards.