Conditions in Mater Emergency Department ‘outrageous’

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) have called on management in the Mater Hospital to act urgently to tackle the conditions in the hospital’s Emergency Department.

This comes as over one hundred patients were in the Emergency Department last night, Monday, May 23.

INMO Assistant Director of Industrial Relations, Maeve Brehony called on management in the hospital to alleviate the problems.

“INMO members in the emergency department in the Mater are sounding the alarm on outrageous conditions they are currently working in,” she said.

“Last night over one hundred patients were in the emergency department.

“One patient was waiting over 68 hours for a bed.

“The impact that excess waiting for a bed in our hospitals has on mortality is widely proven.

“These conditions have been allowed to fester in the emergency department leading to extreme burnout amongst nurses working in the Mater.

“Management in the hospital cannot allow these conditions to continue.

“An immediate plan needs to be put in place to alleviate the pressure nurses and other healthcare workers are under in the Mater, including the use of capacity in the private hospital co-located on the Mater campus and the curtailment of non-urgent elective care.

“Bed availability should be prioritised for those who have been admitted and are being cared for on trolleys.

“The HSE’s Emergency Taskforce should be convened urgently to discuss the overcrowding problem in the Mater and emergency departments right across the country, as what we are seeing at the beginning of summer is not normal or acceptable.”