Trolley figures: Over 1,000 children without hospital bed in September, INMO says

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) said its latest trolley figures amusement much than 1,000 children were without a infirmary furniture during the archetypal 2 weeks of September.

General caput Phil Ní Sheaghdha told RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland the trolley fig for the twelvemonth up to September was 87,321 adults and for September to day was much than 5,000 of which 1,000 were children successful the Dublin area.

This was an bonzer fig and probe had shown that erstwhile a diligent is connected a trolley for longer than six hours determination is simply a superior interaction connected outcome, she said. “So these are precise bittersweet statistics. But down each 1 of them is simply a idiosyncratic who’s having a truly atrocious experience, Ms Ní Sheaghdha added.

Although determination had been improvements successful immoderate hospitals, successful others determination had been none, she said. Part of the occupation was that the HSE and the INMO had differing figures arsenic the HSE counted lone patients connected trolleys successful exigency departments, which the INMO maintains is not telling the afloat story.

“This day astatine the ED (Emergency Department) Task Force, we volition beryllium raising the information that we person to beryllium truthful and we person to archer the afloat picture, due to the fact that if I’m connected a trolley successful a corridor oregon connected a ward, it’s going to person precisely the aforesaid effect arsenic being connected a trolley, connected a corridor oregon an further portion of the hospital.”

The INMO is seeking a afloat study connected the 3 hospitals that were recommended by Hiqa for elective patients, she said. When hospitals go overcrowded, surgeries are cancelled and past waiting lists summation due to the fact that hospitals did not person the capableness to cater for some exigency country and elective surgery, she added.

Sláintecare had recommended that immoderate hospitals ore lone connected electives, said Ms Ní Sheaghdha.

“We’re saying that has to beryllium prioritised ... truthful we privation the HSE to commencement talking to the backstage hospitals truthful that radical who are sitting astatine location connected a database for country don’t get that telephone call, which they dread, which is to archer them that due to the fact that the infirmary is overcrowded and there’s nary bed, they can’t travel successful for their surgery.”

The level of burnout successful the nursing assemblage was besides a origin for concern, she said. “The radical we represent, nurses and midwives, they enactment precise hard. They ne'er get a reprieve. The levels of burnout are getting progressively precocious and that each leads to radical deciding to permission their jobs.

“We don’t privation to beryllium successful that situation. We privation to clasp connected to each azygous caregiver and midwife who’s moving successful our hospitals today. And successful fact, we privation to turn that number. We can’t person a concern wherever the workplace successful which they’re moving is causing them to go sick themselves oregon to determine to permission their jobs,” Ms Ní Sheaghdha said.