Nurses at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin are protesting severe overcrowding and understaffing in the emergency department. They say there were 41 patients waiting on trolleys that morning alone, compromising patient safety. A nurse described the environment as "disgusting" and a "third world country in terms of healthcare". The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organization is calling on the hospital and government to take urgent action to address overcrowding and fill nursing vacancies.

1. THE HERALD SATURDAY 6 DECEMBER 2014 9
NEWS
INBRIEF
SEVERE overcrowding in the
emergency department of one
of Dublin’s biggest hospitals has
left nurses “gravely concerned”
about the safety of patients.
Nurses at Beaumont hospital
said they are “now at breaking
point” with 41 patients awaiting
treatment on trolleys yesterday
morning alone.
The nurses staged the first in
a series of lunchtime protests
at the gates of the hospital
yesterday to highlight a crisis
in emergency care they view as
being more serious than it was
in 2006 when a national health
emergency was declared.
Nurse Shona O’Sullivan from
Swords said under-staffing at
Beaumont has never been this
bad in her 10 years at the hos-
pital.
DISGUSTING
“Patients on chairs, patients on
trolleys, patients everywhere,
it is disgusting. It is not a safe
environment to work in,” she
said. “I worked in Scotland
for seven years in A&E and I
thought the National Health
Service (NHS) was the worst
in the world but can I tell you
this is a third world country in
terms of health care.”
She said there can be up to
110 patients in the emergency
department with only seven
staff to see them.
“We are dealing with it
because we have to. We are
worked off our feet, we are run
ragged, we don’t get breaks
and we do the best that we
can,” she said. The Irish Nurse
and Midwives Organisation’s
(INMO) Industrial Relations
Officer Lorraine Monaghan said
the level of overcrowding and
under-staffing on a daily basis
in the hospital is compromis-
ing nurses’ ability to care for
patients.
“Our members are seriously
concerned that there will be
a major catastrophe if urgent
action is not taken,” she said.
She said she will be meeting
with members to set a date
to vote on the possibility of
industrial action.
“In the month of November,
there was 729 patients on trol-
leys, that is the highest number
nationally and our members
can no longer tolerate the
situation because it is unsafe”.
She said patients can wait for
three to four days in the Emer-
gency Department for a hospital
bed to become available.
“You have to remember an
emergency department is op-
erating 24/7 so these acutely ill
and elderly patients are waiting
for days on end on trolleys and
chairs in frantic conditions,”
she said.
DIGNITY
“They have no privacy, they
have no dignity. They are being
treated in a corridor in full view
of everyone so it is degrading
for the patients. They are suf-
fering and it is not fair.”
The INMO is calling on hos-
pital management to devise “a
strategic action plan” to address
overcrowding and fill existing
nursing vacancies as a matter
of urgency.
They called on the Minister
for Health and the HSE to
immediately bring forward
funding to allow patients who
have completed the acute phase
of their care to move to a more
appropriate setting, either at
home with necessary supports
or to a community bed.
A statement from Beaumont
said the hospital has under-
taken initiatives intended to
improve the patient pathway
through the hospital with all
available beds now open.
It said the hospital currently
has over 50 nursing vacancies
however “extensive recruit-
ment efforts at home, and more
recently in the UK, take up of
these posts has been very slow”.
A spokesman for the Depart-
ment of Health said additional
funding of €25m was provided
in the estimates for 2015 to al-
leviate the problem of delayed
discharges in acute hospitals.
Meanwhile, a HSE spokes-
person said it works on an
ongoing basis with all acute
hospitals and Hospital Groups
to respond, and find solutions,
to capacity problems in Emer-
gency Departments.
hnews@herald.ie
‘It’sdisgusting’–nurses
atbreakingpointover41
onBeaumonttrolleysByMichaelStaines
PROTEST: Nurses and members of the public protesting outside the gates of Beaumont
WHEN Malahide man Joe Fay arrived
into Beaumont Hospital on Wednes-
day evening he knew what to expect.
At 70 years of age he has been in
and out of the hospital for years. He
said he arrived in at 6pm with “fierce
pains” in his head but when he was
told he wouldn’t be seen till around
2am, he didn’t complain.
He went home rather than be
stuck in A&E until the early hours
of the morning. Mr Fay returned for
treatment the following day. He said
he had been in the hospital only a few
weeks earlier to get a plate put in his
arm.
“It was around seven in the morn-
ing when I came in and I was left
sitting there until a quarter to eight
that evening before anybody came
near my arm.
“No communication, no nothing,”
he said. “I have sat on a chair in the
A&E for three nights at one stage.
That didn’t bother me, but I felt so
sorry for the nurses because the pres-
sure they are under is just fierce.”
CARE
He said he was in the hospital 14
years ago and since then “nothing has
changed” with older people who need
out-patient care still in hospital beds
with nowhere to go.
“These nurses are taking care
of patients with 100pc efficiency,
proficiency and care and that makes a
total difference,” he said.
“The amount of pressure they are
under in there is absolutely incred-
ible and what baffles me is that
nothing has been done about it. The
nurses in these hospitals are flying
here, there and everywhere. It is
incredible. And the doctors, they are
running around like blue-assed flies.
One woman in there, I christened her
road-runner she was moving so fast.”
Mr Fay called the atmosphere
amongst the patients “terrible” and
challenged anyone to spend a night
on a seat in A&E to see what it is like.
“Why Leo Varadkar or Enda Kenny
or any of the other ministers doesn’t
do that I don’t know. If they did, they
would find the money,” he said.
hnews@herald.ie
ByMichaelStaines
‘IfLeoorEndaspentanightinA&E,they’dfindthemoney’
ORDEAL: Joe Fay spent
hours waiting to be seen
AER LINGUS chief execu-
tive Christoph Mueller has
been snapped up by troubled
Malaysia Airlines to be its
new boss. Mueller will be the
first ever foreigner to head
Malaysia Airlines, which
was struggling with chronic
financial problems before
it was hit this year by two
deadly disasters.
Discussions are ongoing
for Mueller to start work
before his contract with Aer
Lingus ends on May 1. Ma-
laysia Airlines has suffered
after a jet with 239 people on
board went missing in March
while en route to Beijing.
Ex-Rangers
owner‘stillafan’
FORMER Rangers owner
Craig Whyte gave the club
a vote of confidence today –
and said he was still a fan.
He was speaking after
leaving the High Court in
London where he appeared
for the latest hearing of a
legal dispute he is involved
in with a ticketing firm.
Mr Whyte, 43, had been
ordered to pay more than
£17 million damages to
Ticketus last year. Earlier
this year, he failed to at-
tend a hearing and was the
subject of an order, under
which he could have been
jailed if found in contempt.
But Mr Justice Newey dis-
charged that order after Mr
Whyte appeared in court.
Maddiehunt
detectiveretires
THE detective leading the
hunt for missing Madeleine
McCann is to retire, Scotland
Yard said. Detective Chief
Inspector Andy Redwood,
who has led Operation
Grange since it was launched
in 2011, is to step down before
Christmas.
Mr Redwood said: “The
past three and a half years
leading Operation Grange
has been an extraordinary
privilege.” Scotland Yard said
a handover was currently
taking place and Kate and
Gerry McCann had been
informed of the change.
Redgravegets
lifetimeaward
VANESSA Redgrave
has picked up a lifetime
achievement award for
more than 60 years on
screen at an industry bash.
The actress was pre-
sented with the gong at
the Women in Film and
TV Awards in central
London by playwright Sir
David Hare. Other winners
included Mel Giedroyc and
Sue Perkins, who were
named best presenters.
AerLingusboss
offtoMalaysia
however “extensive recruit-however “extensive recruit-