Hospitals could be swamped in flu epidemic, warn nurses

ALREADY overcrowded acute hospitals in Dublin could be swamped if there was a major flu epidemic, a nurses’ union warned yesterday.

General secretary of the Irish Nurses' Organisation (INO) Liam Doran said canceling all planned surgery would be the only way hospitals could even attempt to cope but that was also presuming that staff would not be badly hit by the virus themselves. "The potential for serious difficulty is genuinely there," he warned.

At the INO's executive council meeting yesterday, members who work as community nurses said they believed the country was on the brink of a flu epidemic.