INMO reports dangerous overcrowding with 777 patients without a bed

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

The Hard Shoulder, with Ciara Kelly and Shane Colman, on Newstalk, with Ciara.

Shane Coleman (0:08)

Now, there are 777 admitted patients without a bed in hospitals around the country, according to figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation. Today's figure marks the second highest number of patients waiting for a hospital bed on a given day this year. We're joined by Tony Fitzpatrick, Director of Professional Services and Industrial Relations at the INMO.

Tony, thank you indeed for talking to us. You're welcome, Shane. What's causing this very high level of patients without a bed at the moment?

Tony Fitzpatrick (0:42)

Well, Shane, I think consistently we're seeing year on year and month on month a growing number of presentations to our emergency departments. And it's predictable every single year, the level of presentation continues to increase. And then when you have presentations to your emergency department, about 20 to 30 percent of those patients that present end up needing an admission, an admission for further care, whatever that may be. And they then need access to a hospital bed for the continuation of that treatment.

And I suppose the situation where we have 777 people on trolleys today, as you said, it's the second worst this year, with the highest figure was back in January. And this time last year was about 400 people on trolleys waiting for a hospital bed. And what we've outlined is this overcrowding, this level of overcrowding is dangerous, it's dangerous for the patients within those departments. And it's important to say people are now on trolleys within the emergency departments on corridors, but also now they're dispersed throughout the hospitals. So within hospital wards, you have patients two, three, four at a time on a trolley, on a corridor in a hospital ward waiting for a hospital bed. And if you say compared to Limerick, 108 people today, that's the equivalent of four inpatient wards that are on trolleys waiting for a hospital bed. And it's just completely unacceptable.

Shane Coleman (2:02)

So what's causing this?

What's causing this? I mean, is it inefficiencies? Is it badly run hospitals? What is it?

Tony Fitzpatrick (2:09)

Well, the core issue is there's a lack of bed capacity within the Irish health care system, and that was badly exposed during COVID, and that continues to be an issue. The other issue then is that we have a significant problem. We have thousands of vacant nursing and midwifery posts within the Irish health care system, as I sit here today.

And when you have people then available who are on interview panels or on panels, sorry, waiting for appointment, we have 1,600 new grads that have qualified, and many of them have been told that there's no job for them at the moment, because the Department of Health and the HSE have introduced an employment control measure where directors of nursing and directors of midwifery are not allowed to fill those vacant posts that exist. So the key issue is the lack of bed capacity, there's a major staffing crisis within the service which is off the Department of Health and the HSE making because there are staff available.

Shane Coleman (3:02)

Okay, but you say it's a staffing crisis. I just checked the figures. An extra 994 new nurses and midwives have been hired this year by September.

Since the 1st of January 2019, an extra 11,000 nurses have been hired from 34,000 to 34,500 to around 45,500 and the government are saying that all graduate nurses are going to be offered a job based on an agreement that's reached with the unions. I mean, there's not too many sectors that could point to a 32% increase in numbers in the last, what is it, six years, seven years?

Tony Fitzpatrick (3:40)

Just to deal with those issues, so the HSE is correct that there is a circular that states that all the graduates in 2026 will be offered employment. The problem is the HSE are not complying with that circular and not offering those jobs. For, I'll give an example, University Hospital Galway, which is over 200 vacant posts in that hospital site alone, has 71 new graduates coming out of UCG, yet none of them have been offered posts within that hospital.

Shane Coleman (4:09)

But they have been offered, sorry, Tony, hang on. They have been offered in that hospital. Have they been offered posts within that region?

Tony Fitzpatrick (4:17)

No, no, they haven't. So some, nine of them have been offered posts actually within Port Yonkla Hospital. And they haven't been offered throughout that region. We have difficulties with the midwives that are graduating in Letterkenny. So across that hospital group and that region, there's difficulties. They are not being offered jobs, despite the fact that there are vacancies there. The ones in Limerick, the midwives coming out of Limerick, are dying to work on these boards. And that's the key thing. The new grads want jobs in the Irish health care system. And you have this disparity across the system because, for example, this last week, St. Vincent's, their new grads started their induction there and working within that hospital. The matter next Monday, their new grads will start working. But then you have a situation where in the northeast, in say Drogheda and Louth, in the Midlands, in Galway and other places, these new grads aren't being offered jobs. And the HSE keep putting out publicly, oh, we're offering them jobs, etc. But I can tell you categorically, and I met with Directors of Nursing and Midwifery this morning, and they are precluded from offering these people contracts and start dates because these jobs are needed now. There's over 2,000 vacancies in the Irish health care system of posts that are vacant here and now.