Nurses strike at nenagh hospital

Nurses at Nenagh hospital are to stage a work-to-rule in protest at persistent hospital overcrowding in the Mid West region.

The action comes as the number of patients left waiting on trolleys or in wards for admission to a hospital bed hit record levels this week.

The Irish Nurses & Midwives Organisation (INMO) said there were 29 patients on trolleys at the Emergency Dept (ED) at University Hospital Limerick on Tuesday. A further 13 were on trolleys on corridors elsewhere in the hospital.
This week a ballot of around 1,000 nurses got underway at four Mid West hospitals, including Nenagh, UHL, Ennis and Croom Orthopaedic.

Mid West INMO Officer Mary Fogarty said staff are concerned at HSE plans to open extra beds in Nenagh and Ennis without the staff to manage any extra patients. She said there are plans to open 14 additional beds at an old medical ward at Nenagh hospital without any support staff, including nurses, doctors, or catering staff.

 

Continued in this week's Nenagh Guardian