HSE AND INMO REACH AGREEMENT ON OVERCROWDING
A planned strike by nurses is likely to be called off after a deal was reached at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) overnight.
The agreement between the HSE and the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) includes a number of provisions to deal with trolley numbers and emergency department overcrowding.
The INMO will meet later today to discuss the planned work stoppage by nurses at seven hospitals around the country on Thursday.
Emergency medicine consultant Dr Fergal Hickey, from Sligo University Hospital, has given the agreement a cautious welcome.
“I would hope that if what is intended is carried through and if the oversight mechanisms are in place to achieve that, then we’ll see fewer patients on trolleys” he said.
“But remember, the underlying problem is we don’t have enough capacity – so we don’t have the beds into which to admit these patients, or in some cases the beds are occupied by patients who should be somewhere else” he added.
