Nurses want ‘unsafe’ Beaumont A&E to go off-call

Nurses last night demanded that Beaumont Hospital emergency department go off-call due to the unsafe conditions for the mounting patient numbers there.

Nursing union, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation said that by just after 7pm there were 75 patients in the department, 33 of whom were awaiting an in-patient bed.

“This number is set to rise further as the evening progresses,” a spokeswoman added. “Despite the emergency department being in crisis all week, the hospital only went off-call for two hours on Tuesday.

“Since then, ambulances have continued to come in with very sick patients, compounding the situation further.”

INMO industrial relations officer Lorraine Monaghan said: “The hospital is in crisis since Monday, yet the appropriate actions have not been taken to address the severe overcrowding levels. It is imperative that the hospital goes off-call immediately and remains off-call until such time that the situation is brought under control.”

On Tuesday, the hospital requested the public avoid visits to the ED where possible. Last night it said that position remained the same.