‘Patients’ lives at risk over cutbacks’

DOCTORS and nurses have warned patients’ lives are being placed at risk as a result of Government cutbacks including a Health Service Executive embargo on recruiting healthcare staff.

The Irish Medical Organisation and the Irish Nurses’ Organisation said it was unacceptable that medical workers and patients were being placed in “an unsafe care environment” as a result of the moratorium introduced in March on recruitment and promotions.

Leaders of both representative bodies said the staging of an unprecedented joint IMO/INO press conference in Dublin yesterday was to alert the public to deteriorating frontline services which would result from such cutbacks.