Nurses call for 10% health funding hike

NURSES want the Government to increase bed numbers by 1,000 and set aside 10% of GDP for spending on health in the next 10 years.

In its pre-Budget submission, the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) also called for a Government commitment to end bed closures and urged Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy to eliminate the chronic bottlenecks in the health system.

Government spending on health has doubled in the past few years to approximately 9.2 billion this year. The INO wants this increased to 10% of GDP, approximately 14bn, another significant hike.