Nurses hit out at A&E 'shambles'

The situation in accident and emergency wards was labelled a complete shambles by opposition TDs today, as the Irish Nurses’ Organisation (INO) claimed the number of people waiting on trolleys topped 400.

The INO has demanded an emergency response to the crisis after it reported there were 422 people waiting on trolleys in emergency wards across the country yesterday and 406 this morning.

Today Labour Health spokeswoman Liz McManus said the Tánaiste Mary Harney was floundering in her handling of the situation.

Ms McManus accused the Health Minister of trying to blame nurses and visiting hours for problems within the hospital system.

The Government must take responsibility for the crisis, she said.

“At the core of this problem is a complete lack of political leadership,” Ms McManus said.

“If we had a Government that was seriously committed to solving the problems of the health service the situation would be significantly resolved.

“We know when Government goes in, for example, to resolving problems in Northern Ireland, that great improvements can be made.

“When it comes to sick and vulnerable people who are dependant on good quality healthcare the Taoiseach has nothing to say, and the Minister for Health offers no solutions, except to spread blame as widely as she can.

“The reality is the Government has to bear responsibility for this shambles,” she said.

Ms McManus called for the implementation of a series of measures to combat the overcrowding problems in the country’s emergency wards:

:: An immediate emergency strategy is needed to make maximum use of all beds and facilities available in hospitals throughout the country.

:: A programme must provide additional acute beds in line with Government commitments, rather than only 700 which she said have been created so far.

:: More community nursing beds should be found to cater for elderly people who may be discharged from acute hospitals.

:: Resources are needed for home help services, and increases in the disabled persons grant and community supports so that people can be cared for in their homes.

:: Resources are also needed for primary care and out-of-hours cover by GPs.

:: The issue of nursing shortages must be addressed immediately.

:: There needs to be an overhaul of the penalty/reward system which Ms McManus said continued to penalise effective model hospitals.

:: Full information should be made available on hospital infections such as MRSA and measures introduced to deal with them swiftly, to help cut patients’ hospital stays.

The Labour deputy leader said the current situation showed the Government’s plan to alleviate overcrowding in A&E wards had failed.

“The A&E crisis has been building for years, and despite repeated attempts and promises to resolve it, the simple facts are that patients are still suffering due to the Government’s incompetence,” she said.