‘Dangerous understaffing and overcrowding at Mater Hospital,’ says INMO

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation says it has called on hospital management in the Mater to act on ‘dangerous understaffing and overcrowding conditions.’

This comes as 40 patients are without a bed in the Mater according to the union’s daily Trolleywatch figures.

INMO Assistant Director of Industrial Relations, Maeve Brehony said:

“INMO members in the Emergency Department and throughout the Mater are indicating that their place of work is no longer safe for the patients they are trying to care for, or the staff working there.

“Day after day and night after night, our members are reporting that while the emergency department is bursting at its seams, the nursing staff are being swamped and unable to take even minimum breaks.

“This is dangerous on so many different levels.

“As outlined in the HSE Winter Plan published yesterday, each ED should conduct an urgent analysis to identify and address gaps and risks, the Mater must move to undertake this process immediately.

“Our members and their patients require hospital management to provide immediate support and action to alleviate the intolerable situation our members are enduring.”