Nurses protest over overcrowding in wards

NURSES AT Beaumont Hospital began a work to rule yesterday over the placement of emergency patients on trolleys in ward areas.

The action by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation followed the move by Beaumont hospital management to deal with a large number of emergency department admissions.

The industrial action means that nurses will not accept or make phone calls regarding management functions and will only take calls about clinical matters. This action will continue until the extra trolleys are removed from wards, the union said.

In a statement the hospital said its emergency department was under “severe pressure” following the bank holiday weekend.

It said 29 patients were awaiting admission to the department yesterday morning which was down to 16 by 2pm.

The department “remains under considerable pressure”, the hospital said.

Ten additional beds were provided on wards to help the emergency department cope and two of these were overnight. No extra beds were added last evening, the statement added.

“Overcrowding the hospital was not a solution to the issue of admissions through the emergency department,” said Noel Treanor, union industrial relations officer.