Nurses fear for the safety of patients in hospital

By Bernie Ní Fhlatharta  

Nurses have called on hospital management to re-open beds in University Hospital Galway as a matter of urgency to relieve serious overcrowding.

There are now concerns about patient safety in the hospital where patients are left on trolleys in inpatient wards while 17 beds remain closed due to lack of staffing.

Yesterday, there were 29 patients waiting on trolleys making it the tenth day in a row that the situation in the Emergency Department was described as ‘a crisis’.

Hospital management had declared a ‘full capacity’ protocol ten days ago, a protocol which is usually only declared during high emergency alerts such as a major accident.

The crisis has led to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation calling on hospital management to reopen beds in both UHG and in Merlin Park to relieve the pressure on patients and staff. There are 17 beds closed in UHG and 91 closed in Merlin Park Hospital .

A spokeswoman for the INMO said: “The problem cannot be solved by placing extra beds on in-patient wards. This is a tried, flawed and failed practice of the past which should never be revisited.

“INMO members in the hospital are seriously concerned regarding the health and safety of patients. There are wards in the hospital with insufficient staff to deliver basic nursing care and the situation is now causing untold human suffering for patients and making it increasingly difficult for members to practice safe care.”

The INMO’s trolley watch shows that 354 patients have spent time on trolleys in April, awaiting an in-patient bed. For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.