Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Mary Fogarty, a nurses' representative, says there is no social distancing taking place in the hospitals. On Monday, 13 July, there were 56 patients on trolleys in one area in the regional hospital with a capacity of 20 patients. This has increased now to 40 patients. Some patients are sitting on chairs. There is no social distance and staff are exposed. The INMO has asked for an internal investigation into full controls for nurses to reduce the risk of spreading infection. Looking at hospitals across the country we see that some of them are struggling with the pandemic and some are not. Perhaps it is time to start examining the management system in some of the hospitals that are not being managed properly. The front-line staff deserve to be protected, but so do the patients. Why is it the case that in certain situations some hospitals are running well and some are not? We must look at how we can assist in this from a structural point of view and at the reason that certain hospitals are coming under that regime. An additional 96 beds were allocated, but staffing at the hospital has depleted by 20%. Is this not something we should examine from a management point of view? This question is one I asked at a previous meeting of the committee in respect of the meat factories. It is down to the fact that there are management problems in certain areas. If there is no good management, there is no good structure. Every person who goes into the hospital goes there to help, but if the structure in place is not right they cannot help.