The INMO has expressed serious concern about hospital overcrowding and has called on the HSE to convene an emergency meeting of its Emergency Department (ED) Taskforce.

According to the organisation, some hospitals are approaching, or are already above, pre-pandemic levels of overcrowding.

Over 22,000 patients have already been treated on hospital trolleys so far in 2021. Last month alone, 3,898 patients were left waiting on trolleys, which is more than three times higher than the figure recorded in May 2020 (1,176).

“Not only is this a very unsafe situation, but our members simply don’t have the reserves to cope with this level of pressure anymore. This is the time for the HSE to start addressing the issue of burnout in its staff, not letting their working conditions get even worse.

“It is not acceptable for the HSE to rely on the goodwill and professionalism of nurses rather than develop a viable plan for safe staffing. Frontline workers have given 100% throughout the pandemic, and if conditions don’t improve, it will be very difficult to retain nurses and midwives in the health service over the coming years,” commented INMO presidents and ED nurse, Karen McGowan.

INMO general secretary, Phil Ní Sheaghdha, emphasised that the risk of Covid transmission in hospitals has not gone away, and yet overcrowding levels have been “creeping up steadily for over a year without any meaningful action being taken”

“We are looking at highly transmissible variants, combined with a completely exhausted workforce. What we need from the Government and the HSE is a concrete plan to deal with this situation before it becomes even more dangerous,” she said.

The INMO has written to the HSE calling for an emergency meeting of its ED Taskforce in order to address the issue.