HSE cost-cutting could see ICU staff levels drop

INTENSIVE CARE staffing levels at one of the country’s largest children’s hospitals are being targeted as part of the drastic Health Service Executive (HSE) cost-cutting demands, the Irish Examiner has learned.

Nursing staff and management at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Crumlin have warned that HSE plans to reduce costs next year could result in the non-replacement of nursing staff at the facility’s intensive care unit (ICU).

And while there is a real fear other parts of the hospital will also be forced to reduce costs, concerns have emerged over the potential impact on the intensive care unit, with Crumlin’s director of nursing warning that the situation poses “significant risks” to patients.