INMO calls for inspection as overcrowding sparks safety fears in Sligo
THE Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has called for an urgent inspection of Sligo University Hospital by the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) in response to ‘demoralising’ overcrowding and safety issues.
In a letter to the HSA, the union said a combination of high attendances and delays in discharging patients was leading to health and safety risks for hospital staff.
While overcrowding is a hospitalwide problem, the INMO said safety issues are particularly severe in the Emergency Department (ED), with Sligo University Hospital seeing extraordinarily high levels of overcrowding this year.
In August, there were 720 patients on trolleys, a 48.8% increase from the same month in 2021 where there were 484 patients, according to the INMO’s ‘trolley watch’ figures.
Since January, 5,901 patients have been treated on trolleys, some of whom were treated in the corridors.
Staff are particularly worried about the ability to evacuate safely in the event of a fire, the higher risk of assaults on staff, the higher risk of infection transmission, and the increased risk of injury due to severely reduced space.
Yesterday morning, the INMO reported 26 were patients admitted at Sligo University Hospital, with 17 in the ED and nine on wards.
The INMO also said the increased workload and pressures – with little opportunity to take breaks – were causing high stress among staff and an increased risk of trauma and burnout.
The INMO’s Industrial Relations Officer for Sligo, Neal Donohue, said: ‘These safety issues extend throughout the hospital, but the conditions in the ED are so concerning we have no choice but to call for an urgent inspection.
‘It’s simply not acceptable for staff to be at this much risk inside a hospital, and it’s beyond demoralising for our members when their basic safety needs are not being met.
‘We need to be making nursing and midwifery more attractive, but we’re not meeting minimum standards in terms of working conditions, and we need to consider how this affects future staffing as well as the risks to patients and our members.
‘We can’t expect people to work under these conditions indefinitely and when staff leave the area or leave nursing because the pressure is too much, we’re going to see long-term effects in health services.’
The union’s fears come two weeks after Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said he is ‘very concerned’ about hospitals this winter as he expected a Covid outbreak in the coming months.
In response to the Irish Daily Mail, the hospital’s running body, Saolta University Health Care Group, said: ‘The number of patients aged 75 and over presenting to ED and who need to be admitted to hospital for treatment has been rising year on year. There are staff assigned to care for patients who are in the Emergency Department awaiting a hospital bed on a ward...
‘Every effort is made to admit patients to an appropriate ward as quickly as possible. The hospital acknowledges and apologises for the distress or inconvenience this can cause to patients and families.’
Speaking to the Mail, the HSA said: ‘Under the Authority’s occupational health and safety remit, inspectors focus on occupational health and safety arrangements in place for the protection of workers including healthcare workers...
‘We have engaged with employers in the sector around the requirements and controls in place to protect workers and we will continue to engage with them.’
‘We’re not meeting minimum standards’