Government 'actively preventing problems being solved at Mayo hospital'

A Mayo TD has warned that chronic staffing shortages and overcrowding at Mayo University Hospital (MUH) are putting patient safety at risk and pushing frontline staff to breaking point.

Deputy Conway-Walsh said: “I have been made aware that staffing shortages at MUH have never been as bad as they currently are.

“Patients and their families are describing deeply distressing conditions in the emergency department, with vulnerable and elderly patients spending hours on trolleys in overcrowded corridors.

“Not only are the government not addressing the problem, but they are actively preventing the problem being solved. I understand that more than 50 nursing posts at MUH are awaiting national approval, while newly qualified nurses ready and willing to work are being told there are no positions available.

“This is indefensible and must urgently be rectified. Existing staff are under extreme pressure, and many are at breaking point from doing the job of three or four nurses.

"How is a hospital supposed to operate safely under these conditions? The Safe Staffing Framework is not being met, and now both patients and staff are paying the price.

“The Minister for Health has visited MUH and given assurances about addressing these pressures. Those assurances must now be honoured, and I will be raising this is the Dáil today.

“With winter approaching, urgent action is needed. I am calling on the Minister to immediately instruct that changes are made to speed up the filling of all frontline posts at MUH in order to ensure safe staffing levels, and for the HSE to address bed shortages.

“Mayo patients deserve safe, dignified care, and staff at MUH deserve the resources to deliver it.”