NURSES BACK ON STRIKE

medicine at the hospital Paul Kelly said that he was unaware if this action had been taken.

‘ That may have gone on later in the evening, but I’m not sure,’ he said. ‘I’m certainly not aware of it. Thursday did get very busy. We had consultants on the floor from 6 a.m. until 4 a.m. – almost 24-hour consultant coverage. The nurses still put patients first and any patients that were very ill received the required care from them.’

While the strikes are having a major impact, Mr Kelly believes that Wexford General is coping quite well.

‘Wexford General tends to manage bed capacity issues better than some other hospitals,’ he said. ‘We run things quite well when we’re overcrowded and see patients promptly enough. On Tuesday we managed quite well, but Thursday was busier.’

While there are hopes that a resolution can be reached, Mr Kelly says that Wexford General is braced for the worst over the next three days – Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday – as the country sees an escalation of the strike action.

‘ The next three days are going to be really difficult,’ he said. ‘Patients have been deferring and GPs are taking on more patients and only sending in people who are really sick, but three days in a row is going to be really difficult.’

Mr Kelly urged the public to be mindful of delays and avoid attending the hospital except in the case of an emergency.

‘We would advice patients to seek help from their GP first,’ he said. ‘Inevitably there will be significant delays over the coming days. We are so dependant on nurses. They are the back bone of the health system.’