Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As of this morning, the INMO trolley watch recorded 84 people on trolleys in UHL. The consistently high numbers have gone beyond a joke. It has created a huge amount of anger locally. Nurses have stated they are retiring early because of the pressures and stress they face in UHL in order to protect their mental health. UHL is the infamous war zone. The nurses, who are heroes in our time of need, are working with a major deficit in the mid-west region and are clearly adding to the substantial argument for the need for a model 3 hospital in Ennis. Morale in UHL is far too low, but they will work in Ennis. The only real solution is to provide additional inpatient beds in Ennis hospital, with a long-term plan to upgrade it to model 3 status. The writing has been on the wall since the reconfiguration failed. It was not backed up with the promised resources and investment.

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