The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has referred the HSE recruitment freeze to the Workplace Relations Commission.
It comes as 583 people were left waiting for beds in hospitals around the country today, with University Hospital Limerick by far the busiest, where more than 130 patients were on trolleys earlier.
The INMO says the current recruitment moratorium is having a “detrimental impact on patient and staff safety” and “poses very serious risks.”
In a statement to Clare FM, its General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha says the union has not been “satisfied with the HSE’s response to date” and that the number of people in hospital without a bed is “very concerning and doesn’t bode well for the Easter bank holiday weekend ahead.”
Figures show 583 admitted patients were waiting for beds in hospitals across the country today.
University Hospital Limerick is the worst affected, with 131 patients on trolleys – the fourth highest number ever recorded at an Irish hospital – and the 5th time trolley numbers have risen above 120 there since last September.
The INMO says the recruitment freeze has now been referred to the Workplace Relations Commission and the matter is to be heard before a conciliation conference tomorrow.
The nurses’ union adds there’s an “increasingly dangerous work environment for nurses and midwives” in hospitals right across the country.
