Phil Ní Sheaghdha: A nurse for every four patients is the basic safety standard. We don't have this

Cases such as the death of Aoife Johnston underline the ongoing staffing issues across healthcare institutions in Ireland

Phil Ní Sheaghdha: 'It is internationally accepted that for patients to be treated safely, there should be one nurse for every four patients or at worst one nurse for six patients.' File photo: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

The recent publication of former Chief Justice Frank Clarke's report into the tragic death of Aoife Johnston at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) has once again opened the public debate about safe staffing levels across the Irish public health service.

My thoughts are with Aoife Johnston’s parents, her sister and all who loved her. I am also thinking of those who were on duty that weekend with inadequate staffing while working in impossible conditions within which they tried to deliver care.