Commenting on HIQA’s latest hospital inspection reports, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has said that the level of unfilled clinical posts highlighted in the reports should be a cause of concern for the government.

INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said:

“The INMO commends the work of HIQA in highlighting the often very dangerous conditions that patients are being treated in and Irish nurses and midwives are working in.

“The HIQA reports highlight the very serious staffing problems that exist in Irish hospitals. The reports report on inspections carried out in early Spring, we know the  situation in acute hospitals has become much worse since then."

In the most recent reports, referencing the situation in April, there was an 18% nursing deficit in the EDs in Mercy University Hospital and in Portiuncula University Hospital and a 13% nursing deficit in the EDs in St. James’s University Hospital.