Concerns raised as nurses and midwives in Cork report burnout amid overcrowding crisis

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has raised concerns about the burnout being experienced by nurses and midwives in Cork.

The union’s Assistant Director of Human Relations in Cork and Kerry Colm Porter said nurses and midwives across Cork are reporting burnout and said there is “a real risk that they will vote with their feet and seek employment elsewhere” unless working conditions improve.

It comes as 72 patients were recorded on trolleys across Cork hospitals on Thursday morning, according to the latest INMO TrolleyWatch figures.

Cork University Hospital (CUH) continued to record the second-highest numbers on trolleys across the country on Wednesday but fell to the hospital with the third-highest number of patients on trolleys on Thursday, after University Hospital Limerick and University College Hospital Galway.

Of the 48 patients waiting on trolleys at CUH on Thursday, 41 were waiting on trolleys at the hospital’s emergency department (ED) and a further seven were waiting in wards elsewhere in the hospital.

Elsewhere in the city, there were 21 patients waiting in ED at the Mercy University Hospital (MUH).

There were three patients recorded on trolleys at Bantry General Hospital (BGH) on Thursday morning.

Speaking to The Echo, Mr Porter said: “The experiences outlined in the national INMO work and wellbeing survey very much reflect what we see in health settings across Cork.

“Only three weeks ago we saw record-breaking numbers of patients on trolleys in both CUH and the Mercy.

The current environment is not good for patients or the nurses and midwives trying to care for them in very challenging conditions.

“Nurses and midwives across Cork are reporting burnout and unless working conditions improve there’s a real risk that they will vote with their feet and seek employment elsewhere.” 

Industrial Relations Officer Liam Conway said conditions remain “very challenging” across MUH, both in the ED and on the wards.

“Staffing remains a key concern for our members. The safe staffing framework needs to be implemented in full with the ED and then funded in all medical and surgical wards in MUH,” he said.

“A motion was passed today [Thursday] at the conference that our members will ballot for industrial action in September if the framework has not been funded and rolled out to all acute hospitals such as the Mercy and University Hospital Kerry.” 

 The INMO’s Annual Delegate Conference which is being held at the Gleneagle in Killarney will hear from Minister for Health Stephen Donelly on Friday morning.