Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Today there are in excess of 493 patients on trolleys waiting for admission to our country's hospitals. I know the programme for Government is very clear on its commitment to tackle this crisis but the threat of industrial action is now looming from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, which believes that not enough is being done to recruit nurses to vacant positions in all acute hospitals throughout the country. It says there is no funded workplace plan to address the unsafe staffing levels and that these staffing deficits are compromising patient care and negatively impacting on the health and safety of nurses and midwives.

Today we have circulated an e-mail sent to the management of Tallaght hospital by the accident and emergency consultant there about the chronic situation where ambulances could not decant patients because of the overcrowding. He said the staff will do what they can in a dangerously crowded situation but unfortunately ambulances will not be able to decant patients and waiting room patients cannot be seen until capacity is found within the emergency department due to entry block. He said the entry block into the emergency department is a most dangerous consequence of overcrowding impacting on ambulances and staff and so on. There is a very real issue here in respect of quality of patient care and safety as a result of this consistent overcrowding in our accident and emergency departments.

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