INMO WARNS OF CANCELLATIONS AS PART OF OVERCROWDING MEASURES
The general-secretary of the INMO says the cancellation of planned surgeries as part of a new plan to deal with overcrowding is an inevitable consequence of years of neglect in the health service.
Nurses will be balloted on the new plan over the next three weeks in a bid to reduce the number of people on trolleys in emergency departments.
It comes as members of the public are advised not to attend Wexford General Hospital unless absolutely necessary after they reached their maximum bed capacity.
It’s hoped delays will begin to ease by the end of the week.
Liam Doran says senior management has fooled itself into thinking hospitals can deal with the workload in ED’s as well as routine procedures.
“In the past, the measures were weighted in favour of having to reduce your waiting list regardless of what the over-crowding situation was in the emergency department” he said.
“What the new measures clearly say the priority for hospital management is avoiding emergency department overcrowding – and that will mean that planned, routine procedures are cancelled”.
“But that’s the consequence of not having enough beds in our acute hospital system” he added.
