The crisis at St Vincent’s Hospital emergency department where nursing staff have initiated a work to rule protest is a direct consequence of the closure of the emergency services at St Columcille’s Hospital in Loughlinstown, according to Sinn Fein Councillor and general election candidate for Wicklow, John Brady.
“The nursing staff at St Vincent’s have taken this action due to the hospital’s failure to provide extra staff to care for overcrowding in the emergency department, and concern over the difficulty to provide the best possible care to their patients in such circumstances. They are under immense pressure with as many as 100 patients crammed into an area that is designed to care for just 18. Trolley numbers at St Vincent’s are up by almost 140% in comparison to the same period last year. This reflects the problem nationally where hundreds of people are left on trolleys waiting on treatment along corridors in emergency units all over the state. I fully commend and support the nurses who have taken this action out of concern for patient safety,” said Councillor Brady.
He went on to say that the consequences of closing the emergency department at St Columcille’s, Loughlinstown are now being played out in the corridors of St Vincent’s.
“At the time Sinn Fein fiercely objected to the closure of services at St Columcille’s. However, all five Wicklow TDs supported the move back in 2013. As a result we now have a crisis in the emergency department of one of the largest hospitals in the state. Had St Columcille’s service been upgraded and kept open as Sinn Fein argued for, St Vincent’s would have far fewer patients on trolleys and nursing staff would not be forced into taking the action they have embarked on. The closure of St Columcille’s emergency department was as a result of another broken promise courtesy of the Labour Party. Now that St Vincent’s is suffering the effects, I would plead with Wicklow TD and Minister of State Simon Harris to intercede on behalf of the patients and staff, and call on Health Minister Leo Varadkar to immediately address the staffing and financial crisis at the hospital,” concluded Cllr Brady.
