'They really need help': HSE makes urgent appeal for nurses in Cork

Volunteers have received an email appealing for  help. Picture: Brian Lawless

The HSE has put out an urgent call for nurses and care assistants through the Cork Volunteer Centre.

Volunteers have received an email appealing for their help.

It reads: “The HSE urgently requires the assistance of qualified nurses and care assistants in Cork.

“Please note that these are paid roles, but the HSE has asked us to circulate to anyone who may be in a position to help ... We are members of the Community Response Forum with the HSE and the Local Authority and they really need help.” 

The urgent call comes as it has emerged that CUH is on the verge of triggering an emergency escalation plan.

More than 180 of CUH's estimated 1,400 nurses are now unavailable for work due to a variety of Covid-19-related issues.

Worryingly, of these, 30 are ICU nurses, out of an available pool of 130.

In addition to staff being off sick, the hospital has had to divide its resources three ways — to staff non-Covid-19 care and Covid-19 care, and to staff the rollout of the vaccinations programme.

On top of that, staff are also having to miss work for up to two or three days at a time because they have nobody to mind their children.

As a result of the upheaval in rostering, there is now an ever-growing shortage of nurses at CUH as well as other health service settings as the country deals with the latest surge.

There are currently dozens of jobs open for registered general nurses in Cork and Kerry, as well as positions for nurses with occupational health experience.

According to Nurseoncall.ie, there is also a call out for nurses with experience in taking bloods. CPL Recruitment in Cork also has job vacancies for theatre and general staff nursing jobs.

In its appeal, Cork Volunteer Centre added: “If you, or someone you know is in a position to help, please send a CV to [e-mail] and state that you heard about the positions from Cork Volunteer Centre.”

A CUH spokesperson said: “CUH is currently experiencing a significant increase in demand for hospital bed capacity including Critical Care capacity, related to Covid-19.

"The necessary arrangements are in place at CUH to upscale Critical Care capacity should that become necessary.

"Critical Care Capacity in the South/ South West Hospital Group (S/SWHG) is actively managed as a group resource; thereby ensuring patients always have access to the best possible care setting with inter-hospital transfer as required.

"Management at CUH can confirm that while there is a considerable amount of staff unavailable for Covid-19 related reasons, staff have been redeployed to critical areas within the hospital and have been asked to defer annual leave and all flexible working time arrangements are under review. “