Members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation in Beaumont Hospital are once again calling on hospital management to advise the general public to avoid attending the Emergency Department and seek other care pathways as we come into the Easter weekend.
This comes as the hospital has once again seen high levels of overcrowding with 20 patients on trolleys today.
INMO President and ANP in Beaumont Emergency Department, Karen McGowan said:
As we enter another holiday period overcrowding in our EDs is predictable. Every effort must be made by the hospital to create extra capacity during this period.
Colleagues in Beaumont are under severe pressure. It is time for management to intervene and seek the assistance of private hospitals in the area and to advise GPs in the area of the seriousness of overcrowding.
INMO Industrial Relations Officer, Maurice Sheehan added:
The level of overcrowding in Beaumont is extremely concerning. We have received reports from Beaumont this morning that 20 patients in ED have been admitted without being placed in beds and all extra capacity is being used.
The Emergency Department is currently at full capacity with nurses struggling with overflows of patients who have been admitted. The discharge rates in Beaumont are not keeping up with the admission rates. The union has called for a more focused approach to patient discharge and more frequent consultant-led ward rounds focused on discharging patients. On top of this, the Emergency Department is also understaffed at present.
INMO members in Beaumont are calling on hospital management to call on the public to use other avenues such as GPs, minor and rapid injury clinics and if the situation requires other emergency departments in the city.