Over 100 nursing staff at the Midland Regional Hospital in Mullingar staged a lunchtime protest on Tuesday of this week to highlight continued overcrowding and poor staffing levels at the hospital.
On a day when 30 people were forced onto trollies at the under-pressure hospital, nurses said what is happening is s “a scandal” with patients afforded little dignity and morale among staff hitting rock bottom. Horror stories emerged as nurses spoke of the conditions not just in the Emergency Department but also in the hospital’s maternity and other key departments.
There were very real fears that patient care is being compromised by the ongoing under-staffing and over-crowding problems, and those picketing on Tuesday said they are prepared to take industrial action unless their demands for more staff and more beds are met.
Depsite what the HSE said about this being an annual problem, trolley figures for December 2014 show a 253% increase, compared to December 2013, with 409 sick and vulnerable people forced onto trolleys in the hospital in a month. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation say it is “a national disgrace”.
The Union is calling on the Health Minister, Leo Varadkar, to personally intervene as they say the HSE cannot fill vacant positions. Ten jobs have been on offer since September, but not one interview has taken place.
