Kerry nurses fear for patients

NURSES at Kerry General Hospital, who say they are working to the point of exhaustion, warned at the weekend of dangers to patients’ safety because of insufficient staff.

The Irish Nurses’ Organisation (INO), which had already called for a curtailment of services because of shortages in personnel, claimed the hospital is short 80 nurses.

Last month, the only consultant at the hospital’s A&E unit, Dr Sean O’Rourke, tendered his resignation. He had previously hit out at what he claimed was the Health Service Executive’s (HSE) failure to provide adequate staff for the unit.