User:rorynoonanDate:02/04/2013Time:08:20:59Edition:02/04/2013Tuetuesecho020413Page:1Color:
EE - V1
TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013
Serving Cork for 120 years Mercy Hospital nurses call for independent review as...
Patients waiting 12 hours to be examined MERCY University Hospital nurses are calling for an independent review of staffing levels after claims that patients are now “regularly waiting for up to 12 hours at night” before being examined. Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) representative Michael Dineen said the hospital’s emergency department (ED) is constantly “chaotic” describing the current staffing levels as hopelessly insufficient to meet the demands being
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EDITION NO. 34,875
By MARIA ROLSTON
faced. Staff have serious concerns that errors will occur because of the pressure they’re under, he added. However, the hospital’s management has refuted claims that staffing levels are unsafe, with the Mercy Hospital chief executive officer, Sandra Daly, insisting that staff numbers have increased. Ms Daly said: “Yes there are days when there are surges and increased presentations through the emergency department but there is a defined,
managed response to busy days and we have a clear programme of improvement around the ED.” The CEO said an acute medical assessment unit incorporating seven beds opened at the hospital last year designed to alleviate bed pressure in the ED. Ms Daly added: “There are challenges in unplanned, unstructured work but we have robust risk management plans in place. “We’ve increased the numbers of staff and put in extra beds and I’m satisfied that staff levels are meeting the requirements for safety levels.”
However Mr Dineen said there was “no sign” of the pressure on ED staff abating. “The hospital management agreed emergency department staffing levels when the unit first opened in 2008 but they’re not being met and the current staffing levels are hopelessly insufficient. “It was chaos in there one recent Friday with 26 patients waiting on trolleys and patients are waiting for up to 12 hours before they are even seen at night, and it’s happening on a regular basis.” ● See pages 5 and 15.
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