Hse says steps being taken to ease overcrowding in tullamore

The HSE is implimenting a range of measures including temporarily opening beds in order to deal with what it described as “surges in activity” in the Midland Regional Hospital at Tullamore.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation(INMO)’s figures showed there were 28 people on trolleys at the hospital today. The INMO described the situation across the country, where 601 patients are on beds, as a national emergency.

In a statement in relation to Tullamore, the HSE said steps are being taken at the Emergency Department at the Midland Regional Hospital at Tullamore to cope with the additional demand for services and to prioritise care for those who need it most.

“The hospital has a policy for dealing with surges in activity, as have been experienced in recent days, including increasing the number of clinical ward rounds being undertaken to ensure that any patients who are ready to go home are discharged and supported as necessary by community based care services, temporarily opening beds where deemed necessary, implementing ambulance bypass protocols and managing the volume of elective surgeries being undertaken in the hospital,” the HSE stated.

It said the “Emergency Department at Tullamore Hospital will continue to priorities acute emergencies.” The HSE added, “the hospital regrets the inconvenience that waiting for admission can cause for patients and wishes to assure patients that staff are endeavouring to minimise any inconvenience that may arise during the course of their treatment.”