Government blocking solutions at Mayo University Hospital – Conway-Walsh

Sinn Féin TD Rose Conway-Walsh has warned that staffing shortages and overcrowding at Mayo University Hospital (MUH) are putting patient safety at risk and pushing staff to breaking point.

Deputy Conway-Walsh said she had been made aware that staffing shortages at the hospital "have never been as bad as they currently are."

She said patients and their families were describing distressing conditions in the Emergency Department, with elderly and vulnerable 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," she said.

The Mayo TD said she understood more than 50 nursing posts at MUH were awaiting national approval, while newly qualified nurses ready to work were being told no positions were available.

"This is indefensible and must urgently be rectified," she said.

"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?"

Deputy Conway-Walsh said the Safe Staffing Framework was not being met, and that patients and staff were now paying the price.

She noted that the Minister for Health had visited MUH and given assurances about addressing the pressures.

"Those assurances must now be honoured," she said. She planned to raise the issue in the Dáil today.

With winter approaching, she called on the Minister to instruct that changes be made to speed up the filling of all frontline posts at MUH to ensure safe staffing levels.

She also called on the HSE to address bed shortages.

"Mayo patients deserve safe, dignified care, and staff at MUH deserve the resources to deliver it," she added.