The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) says it is 'gravely concerned' about standards and quality of care in Tallaght Hospital, claiming that 'dangerous levels' of overcrowding persist throughout the hospital.

The hospital, however, has denied this and says its emergency department is safe and quality and care standards are constantly monitored to ensure the safety of all patients.

The nurses' union says the hospital's emergency department is seriously overcrowded for continuous periods and the overcrowding is not confined to the emergency department, as extra trolleys were now being placed inappropriately on wards and in ward corridors.

The INMO called on the board of Tallaght Hospital to prioritise patient care over all other matters.

Figures for the month of January so far show that there were 254 patients on trolleys in the ED and an additional 69 trolleys placed on wards above the complement of those wards in Tallaght Hospital.

"Many of the patients on these trolleys are seriously ill, elderly and totally unsuited to the provision of care on a trolley. They have no dignity and their privacy is seriously compromised," the INMO said.

The union says the situation is made worse by nursing shortages and has claimed that in the past few months,  critically-ill patients were being cared for by non-qualified staff.

In May 2012 a HIQA investigation report severely criticised safety standards at Tallaght Hospital, saying patients' lives were put at risk because they were being treated on trolleys on corridors. Two patient deaths in 2011 were linked to the practice of putting patients on ED corridors and in August 2011 HIQA ordered the hospital to stop doing this.

The INMO said its members were now seriously concerned that another adverse incident may occur as the HIQA recommendations were not being implemented at the hospital.

While the hospital stopped placing trolley patients on ED corridors, the INNO now says patients are being placed on trolleys in wards and in corridors in ward areas.

According to INMO Industrial Relations Officer Derek Reilly, patients at Tallaght are now nursed on corridors in ward areas where they have neither dignity nor adequate nursing staff to care for them. "This must stop immediately," he said.

"Our members in the emergency department are unanimous in their belief that the ED in Tallaght Hospital is unsafe and unable to provide adequate patient care. Our members on the wards in Tallaght are equally frustrated and concerned at continuing overcrowding on wards which makes it unsafe for all the patients on the ward," Mr Reilly said.

The INMO claims the hospital is dangerous and staff fear another adverse event will happen.

The union says additional beds and nursing staff are needed.

Tallaght Hospital told irishhealth.com it was committed to delivering the highest standards in patient care throughout the Hospital, including the emergency department.

It said it was operating against a background of increased demand. Tallaght said it had has implemented measures to manage the numbers of patients on trolleys including the opening of a medical assessment unit, additional beds, and changes to nursing management in its ED.

"The hospital is actively working on a number of other measures to improve the patient experience, such as availing of additional transition care beds in the community," it said in a statement.

The hospital said it had increased nursing posts by over 30 in the past year and this included posts in the ED. It said the recruitment of additional senior clinical nurses and advanced nursing posts was ongoing.

It said a number of quality and safety measures - including those recommended in the 2012 HIQA report into ED safety at the Hospital - were being implemented and monitored.

"Tallaght Hospital regularly meets with the nursing unions in an engagement process to improve services in the hospital, including the ED. This process is ongoing and we are fully committed to working to resolve these issues - for the benefit of all patients in our hospital."

The hospital statement, issued through public relations firm, did not specifically address the INMO claim that trolleys were being placed on ward corridors.

HIQA said it would not be commenting on the INMO's statement.