Local hospital staffing issues must be addressed - Stanley
Local Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley has said that staffing issues and capacity issues in Tullamore and Portlaoise hospital require urgent progress.
Speaking in the Dáil, this week Deputy Stanley said: “The Sinn Féin motion is about delivering fairness to nurses and midwives in our hospitals. Sinn Féin want our frontline health care workers to be recognised for their contribution, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The motion calls for student nurses and midwives to receive fair pay allowances immediately, and for the government to engage meaningfully with health and social care trade unions to deliver on pay and conditions.’’
“Nurses and midwives deliver incredible front-line services in very difficult conditions. Only two weeks ago, along with Deputy Cullinane, I met with management at Portlaoise Hospital and nurses’ union to discuss access to care and chronic capacity problems within the hospital.
Unfortunately, this is mirrored throughout the State. Covid admissions at Portlaoise hospital doubled between 1st October and 1st November.
Capacity issues are causing serious problems in service provision, which is putting a lot of pressure on staff. This is impacting negatively on retention because of staff burnout, overwork, long shifts and few breaks. Nurses will go elsewhere.
“According to the HSE’s own website, there were no beds available in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) or High Dependency Unit (HDU) at Portlaoise Hospital on November 1st. There were no free beds in those units. There were also no ICU or HDU beds at Tullamore Hospital. In fact, Portlaoise ICU was at full capacity except for four days during the month of October.’’
“Hospitals in the Midlands are operating at 100% occupancy most of the time. We must address this. These are worrying statistics considering a range of reports, including the 2018 Slaintecare Health Service Review, recommend reducing capacity to 80%. This is a recognised target throughout the OCED.
"We are one of highest spending countries per capita in the OECD on healthcare. It is therefore very frustrating that consecutive governments have failed to address this chronic capacity issue.’’
“Sinn Féin wants to deliver a healthcare system that works for patients, but also a system in which our nurses and midwives want to build a career. To do this, we need fair pay and adequate hospital capacity.”