INTERVIEWS have been held in Limerick’s Mid- Western Regional Hospital to hire extra nurses to deal with the ongoing crisis at the emergency department. Last week, the system was straining under the number of extra patients which the facility was trying to cope with, as 74 extra patients were admitted to overflow wards or waited on trolleys. This was the second time in as many weeks that in excess of 30 patients were being treated on trolleys in the emergency department.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation warned that the situation is “very dangerous on a number of fronts,” not least the risk of an outbreak of infection, the quality of delivery of care and what might happen if there were an emergency which required evacuation.
A spokesperson for the HSE said that interviews have been held to recruit more nurses.
“The hospital is at present under pressure as a result of a post Bank Holiday rise in attendances at the emergency department.
“All possible measures have been put in place to alleviate the situation, including a reduction in the number of elective surgeries and the carrying out of extra ward rounds to free up beds”.
The HSE is appealing to the public to co-operate and to attend their GPs wherever possible before presenting at the emergency department.
“We are conscious of the pressure the current situation puts on our staff and patients and will continue to work to improve our service”.
