More than 50 vacant nursing positions at University Hospital Kerry

University Hospital Kerry is seeing 'significant  overcrowding issues', the INMO said. File picture: Dan Linehan

There are now more than 50 vacant nursing positions at University Hospital Kerry (UHK), leaving the hospital without more than 8% of the nursing workforce. 

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) have warned this is putting patients at risk and has called for the HSE to immediately end the recruitment moratorium. 

Other posts are unfilled across community services in Tralee and West Kerry, the union warned.

INMO industrial relations officer Liam Conway said the 50 vacancies were “unfilled because of maternity leave”.

“There are long-standing agreements in place that maternity leave cover will be provided, but this is not the case in University Hospital Kerry,” he said.

“The ongoing recruitment freeze is eroding the safe staffing framework that is meant to be in place in University Hospital Kerry” 

He also warned that: “anecdotally we know that many nurses are indicating their intention to leave because of unsafe staffing.” 

The INMO said without intervention on these gaps, vacancies "will continue to increase and without replacement lead to increased risk to patients and staff”. 

UHK is already seeing “significant overcrowding issues”, the INMO said. It has counted more than 1,282 patients waiting on trolleys for a bed so far this year.

Mr Conway also called for attention to be given to services outside the hospital, which have also been hit by the recruitment freeze. 

“Posts remain unfilled in primary care services and in care of the older person services such as West Kerry Community Hospital and Tralee Community Nursing Unit," he said. 

"Local management must be given sanction to fill these posts." 

INMO industrial relations officer Liam Conway said the pause on recruiting was affecting the mental and physical health of nurses across Kerry, saying they are continuously working in short-staffed wards and services. Picture: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

He said the pause on recruiting was affecting the mental and physical health of nurses across Kerry, saying they are continuously working in short-staffed wards and services.

“This is ultimately going to impact patient safety,” he warned.

The pressures in Kerry comes as the INMO's latest trolley-watch figures show there are 26 people on trolleys in UHK.

Alarmingly, 111 patients are on trolleys at University Hospital Limerick. Another four people were on trolleys at Ennis Hospital, which does not have an emergency department.

This comes after repeated announcements of measures to address overcrowding in the hospital and across the Limerick-Clare-North Tipperary region.

The INMO counted 571 patients nationally without a bed despite the clement weather, which usually leads to a reduced number of patients attending hospitals.

There were 64 patients without a bed at Cork University Hospital and 10 at the Mercy University Hospital, as well as six in Tipperary University Hospital in Clonmel and three in Waterford University Hospital.

The dedicated children’s hospitals in Dublin were also under pressure, with 10 children on trolleys across three sites.