Emergency measures set to tackle hospital overcrowding

Emergency measures are to be put in place at Cork University Hospital and Mercy Hospital to tackle overcrowding following crisis talks between the HSE and nurses’ representatives.

Yesterday’s summit between the South/South West Hospital Group (SSWHG) and the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) came after the latter had declared last Friday as the worst day on record for patients on trolleys in CUH, and called for emergency measures to stem the influx of people presenting at the hospitals.

Representatives from both sides met in Cork yesterday to discuss the overcrowding issues, and last night issued a joint statement confirming the agreed actions that will be put in place to alleviate the pressure on the struggling hospitals.

Elective surgeries are to be cancelled, non-emergency admissions are to be stopped, and extra beds will be sought from the public and private sectors in a bid to tackle the crisis conditions.

Both sides will meet again on Wednesday to discuss further measures.

In their statement, the INMO and SSWHG said current capacity issues have been “exacerbated due to high number of [emergency department] attendances and flu admissions in Cork hospitals”.

The statement read: “Additional measures have now been agreed with the SSWHG and put in place in order to improve bed capacity. Such measures include the cancellation of elective surgery, stopping non-emergency admissions, and sourcing extra bed capacity from the public and private sectors.

In the context of the current pressures facing the SSWHG, all nursing posts that are sanctioned can be recruited and are proceeding.

SSWHG is to further consider issues raised by the INMO, “particularly delegation of authority to recruit at the hospital level, and agreement on a funded 2020 HSE Workforce Plan for Nursing & Midwifery”, according to the statement.

The HSE said there were 746 confirmed cases of people hospitalised with the flu in the last two weeks of 2019, bringing the total number of cases in the current flu season to 1,373.

Nine flu-associated deaths were reported during the last two weeks of 2019, and the HSE said there have been 22 flu-associated deaths in total during the 2019/2020 season.

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