Closure of beds will cause chaos, say nurses

DUNDALK faces the loss of acute hospital care and the closure of 30 beds in Tralee will create chaos during the summer months, nurses have claimed.

Delegates attending the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) agm in Killarney yesterday outlined a litany of failures within the hospital system.

A&E staff from Louth County Hospital said they were outraged to hear the North Eastern Health Board (NEHB) had decided to withdraw consultant cover after 5pm from July 1.

“The first we heard about it was on the radio. The hospital is supposed to be jointly run by medical and surgical staff but none of the medical staff were informed of this decision,” said A&E nurse Colette Vise.

Ms Vise said the decision to reduce consultant cover was an effective downgrade of the hospital at a time when neighbouring hospital, Our Lady of Lourdes in Drogheda, was unable to cope.

She said the removal of cover in the evenings would compromise patient care.

“This plan is dangerous, unprecedented and not in the interest of quality patient care,” said INO industrial relations officer Patsy Doyle.

The Dundalk branch of the INO wrote to the NEHB seeking an explanation and a meeting between the two is scheduled for next Monday.

Ms Vise said they intend to engage in industrial action unless 24-hour consultant cover is maintained. Anything less would signal the end to acute hospital care in the Dundalk area.

A motion calling on the INO to oppose the NEHB’s decision was carried unanimously.

Health Minister Micheal Martin, who partook in a debate on the future of the health services at the agm, refused to be drawn on the decision, saying it was a matter for the health board.

“I don’t micro-manage each hospital, but if you have a difficulty, you need to work it out with the health board,” he said.

A&E staff from Tralee General Hospital were furious at the South Western Health Board’s decision to close 30 beds, including an acute medical and an acute surgical unit, from June 1 until September.

Industrial relations officer Michael Dineen said it would cause chaos. “It’s going to be a disaster for the summer, taking beds out of the system during peak tourist season. It will have a knock-on effect on A&E, clogging it up more.”

Consultant surgeon at the hospital, Tom McCormack, blamed the closure on a lack of money for locums to cover holiday leave.