A Clare government representative says an agreement with private hospitals to aid in managing additional demand on the public sector this winter should have been reached before now.
The call has been made by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation to move all elective activity to private facilties until the end of March to counteract the predicted surge in attendances this winter.
The union revealed that University Hospital Limerick has been the worst-hit hospital in the country in relation to overcrowding, with over 15,000 people left without a bed at the facility so far this year.
Ennistymon-based Fine Gael Senator and his party’s Seanad spokesperson on health, Martin Conway, says the use of private hospitals needs to be maximised over the coming months.
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