Cork-based INMO officer calls for infection control protocols to be reviewed 

The Cork-based industrial relations officer of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), Liam Conway, has called for infection control protocols to be reviewed as overcrowding concerns are heightened ahead of the last quarter of the year.

Mr Conway told The Echo there have been significant issues and challenges with infection control in the south-west recently, including at University Hospital Kerry, where mandatory mask-wearing was reintroduced.

He said all infection control protocols should be reviewed to “mitigate against significant outbreaks of any viral illnesses in hospitals”.

“We need to be prepared for influenza and we need to be prepared for covid-19, particularly heading into the winter period,” he said.

“A key aspect of that is improving staffing levels in emergency departments and particularly on our ward settings,” said Mr Conway.

“The key objective for that is that the plan has the appropriate funding and the willpower to go and ensure that we have a robust recruitment plan with no impediments for the winter; and we have to see legislation for safe staffing across acute hospitals and in other services.”

His comments come as 52 people were recorded on trolleys across Cork hospitals yesterday morning, according to the INMO Trolley Watch figures.

Nationally, over 7,832 patients, including 138 children, went without a bed in hospitals in July. 

The figures also showed that 72,391 patients have gone without a bed in 2023, a 10% increase in the same time period in 2022.

“[There are] significant pressures in all hospitals both in Cork and Kerry and across the board between the acute hospital side with significant presentations and admitted patients daily on trolleys and we see demand on other services such as oncology services,” said Mr Conway.

“In the plan for this year, we have to see safe staffing levels being achieved, and while there has been approval for the safe staffing rollout for the Mercy University Hospital and University Hospital Kerry, we need to see continued funding and we need underpinning of safe staffing via legislation.”

Mr Conway said that ensuring safe staffing is “pivotal to protecting patients in the care of the acute hospitals this winter” and said it is extremely important for patient flow, appropriate patient care, and reducing the length of stay of patients in hospitals.