'Dangerous' conditions: Nurses say Cork's Mercy hospital at breaking point 

CORK’s Mercy University Hospital (MUH) is at breaking point, and conditions have become “dangerous” and “intolerable” for staff and patients, according to the body that represents nurses in Ireland.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) described MUH as “unsafe” yesterday evening, and has advised “urgent political intervention” to protect its members.

A spokesperson for MUH said “patient safety, staff safety and welfare remain the priority and the focus of the hospital is to maximise all available resources to meet the highest priority needs.”

The crisis in the MUH comes as 35 patients there were without a bed yesterday, along with a “significant ambulance waiting time” outside the hospital.

“Significant overcrowding in Mercy University Hospital has led to a dangerous environment for staff and their patients,” INMO industrial relations officer Liam Conway said.

“Our members are describing conditions inside the hospital itself as unsafe and intolerable, this is coupled with a significant ambulance wait time outside of the hospital itself.

“Since the beginning of October, over 379 patients have been on trolleys in the Mercy.”

“This is unsustainable for our members. We know that there is a serious problem across all hospitals in Cork City when it comes to the discharging of patients back into the community. This requires urgent political intervention in the days and weeks ahead,” Mr Conway said.

“It is vital to ensure that action is taken to protect both our members and their patients. The environment they find themselves in is making it impossible to provide safe and timely care.”

Mr Conway said: “Hospital management must now curtail all non-urgent elective care. 

"Additional bed capacity must be sourced in the community and from the private sector in order to alleviate serious pressure in the hospital.”

A spokesperson for MUH said its emergency department (ED) is currently experiencing high demand due to an increase in the attendance of acutely ill patients, in addition to caring for frail older persons with complex needs.

“The ED remains open 24/7 however, it is regrettable that patients are experiencing significant delays and this situation is being treated as a priority by Hospital Management,” said the spokesperson.

“The increasing number of Covid-19 positive patients admitted to the hospital is also putting significant pressure on services,” they added.

“The hospital has fully implemented its escalation plan to deal with the high number of attendees at the Emergency Department and the concomitant demand for inpatient beds. 

"All necessary actions have been taken by the hospital to mitigate the risk including cancellation of elective work, the opening of additional surge beds, regular safety reviews, diversion of ambulance presentations and the redeployment of clinical staff to the ED. The hospital is prioritising patients requiring urgent time sensitive care.”

Hospital management request that, where appropriate, the public contact their GP/South Doc in the first instance and explore all other options available to them prior to attending the ED.