Tag Archives: INMO

FIRE safety reports are not being adhered to in University Hospital Limerick (UHL) due to chronic overcrowding, a nursing union has claimed. In a statement issued to The Clare Champion, the Irish Nurses and Midwives’ Organisation (INMO) called on the Health and Safety Authority to act on the “unsafe conditions” affecting nurses and patients. It has also emerged that the union is considering consulting its members on the possibility of balloting for industrial action. “The dignity of patients is often diminished because of the conditions they are being treated in,” the INMO states. “Emergency Departments are pressure cooker environments leading to the physical and verbal assault of our members in some instances. “The HSE has a duty to provide a safe environment for employees and patients and this just is not being adhered to in the vast majority of hospitals. “Our nurses are at the end of our tether, and they cannot provide the clinical care that is required. They …

AN elderly patient suffering from dementia went missing following admittance to University Hospital Limerick amid claims “Groundhog Day” had arrived for staff and patients with 118 people left on trolleys earlier this week. Limerick Deputy Maurice Quinlivan has revealed on Monday he was contacted by the family of an elderly patient who suffers from dementia. “This elderly woman who had been admitted to the hospital the night before was discovered to be missing on Monday morning. Thankfully she was found by the Gardaí two hours after she had left the hospital. “The family advised that while security could stop them from entering the hospital, nobody noticed this woman exiting her ward, the hospital building or the hospital grounds. “I have subsequently been contacted by other families who have highlighted similar stories about their loved ones. Frontline staff at the hospital can only do so much but they are burned out and lacking bed capacity,” he said. The UL Hospitals’ Group …

UNIVERSITY Hospital Limerick has set an unwanted new record today with 126 patients being treated on trolleys at the Dooradoyle hospital. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has called for an emergency plan to be activated for UHL in the wake of the figures the highest number of patient overcrowding in any Irish hospital since the INMO began its TrolleyWatch in 2006. A spokesperson for the INMO said the level of overcrowding “is dangerous for patients and staff and requires an immediate hospital group-wide response”. The number of patients on trolleys in UHL this Thursday makes up over 28% of the total number of patients on trolleys across the country today (442 patients). INMO Assistant Director of Industrial Relations, Mary Fogarty said, “The fact that we are seeing a record number of patients on trolleys in University Hospital Limerick on the 21st of April means that the bed management system is completely broken. “The INMO has been sounding the alarm …

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has confirmed that March 2022 has been the worst March for overcrowding since the union began counting trolleys in 2006. Some 11,001 patients have been without a bed in hospitals throughout the country in the month of March with UHL having the worst record. In the month of March, 1,671 patients were treated on trolleys at the Mid-West’s main hospital. This was 76% higher than the next worst performing hospital, University Hospital Galway. In Q1 of 2022, 29,506 patients have been without a bed. INMO General Secretary, Phil Ní Sheaghdha said, “When nurses and midwives use phrases like ‘out of control’ and ‘chaotic’ to describe hospital overcrowding we do not do so lightly. It has been the worst March for overcrowding since our union began counting trolleys in 2006 with 11,001 without beds. “It has been an extremely busy month for those working in our hospitals with over 37% of those who have been …

EIGHT out of every ten nurses working in University Hospital Limerick (UHL) felt exhausted at the end of the day, according to the findings of a new survey. The findings of this INMO survey coincide with ongoing chronic overcrowding in UHL which hit a high last week of 84 patients on trolleys. The UL Hospitals’ Group announced earlier that week that UHL would be closed to inpatient visiting for a number of days, while the hospital managed multiple outbreaks of Covid-19 and influenza across the site. The INMO stated, “Not only have our members been placed under enormous pressure owing to a global pandemic, but now, the endemic of consistent overcrowding is significantly impacting the mental and physical health of staff.” To gain an insight into how nurses felt, the INMO surveyed members in a number of public hospitals. In University Hospital Limerick, 80.64% stated that they always or often felt worn out by the end of the day, and …

A nursing union has called for the curtailment of elective treatments in University Hospital Limerick to reduce the expected spike in overcrowding in the Emergency Department over the coming weeks.   The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has called on the HSE to publish and implement a Plan B for dealing with the capacity crisis that is escalating within the public acute hospital system. The INMO has requested all activity except urgent emergency care to be curtailed in the public hospital system. INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha expressed concern about the high numbers of patients presenting to Emergency Departments across the country. “From experience we know that if there are 287 patients for whom there is no bed in a hospital on December 30th, we know that figure will be tripled in early January. It is time now to scale back all activity within our public hospital system to emergency activity only. “Our public health service is too small …

ATTENDANCES at the Emergency Department (ED) at the region’s main hospital continue to hit record levels last seen before the pandemic. In a statement, the University of Limerick Hospitals Group (ULHG) confirmed that well in excess of 200 patients have been presenting every 24 hours at the ED in Dooradoyle. It has again asked members of the public to “consider all care options” before attending. In the 24-hour period to 8am on Wednesday (August 18), 229 patients attended the ED. A total of 241 attended the ED in the previous 24-hour period. “This continues a pattern of high attendances to ED around the country which has been sustained over a number of weeks and current activity levels remain far in excess of the 195 average attendances at our ED recorded in 2019, the last full year pre-pandemic,” a statement said. The hospital has also seen an increase in the number of Covid-positive patients being treated. As of Wednesday, there were …

INMO members at University Hospital Limerick have commenced a ballot for industrial action this Wednesday over the refusal of hospital management to attend talks at the Workplace Relations Commission. The INMO represents over 1,000 nurses on site who are frustrated at the approach to date by management to resolving the persistent high nurse vacancy rates and other related issues. Among nurses’ concerns are the risks to patients, overcrowding in a Covid-19 environment and excessive workloads arising due to unfilled funded nursing posts in wards, emergency department and theatres. To date management have declined to provide the INMO with the vacancy rate. Mary Fogarty INMO Assistant Director of Industrial Relations said: “It is imperative that these vacancies are filled prior to the opening of 96 much needed additional beds on site. However many of the wards also have historical low staffing levels and need additional nurses to cope with the demands of the Covid-19 environment. “Nurses at UHL are exhausted after …