Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
NURSES AT A Limerick hospital are set to launch a second four-hour strike over what they say are serious risks to patients.
On Wednesday, nurses in the emergency department of the Mid Western Regional Hospital held a work stoppage in protest at overcrowding and funding shortages.
However, a representative today told TheJournal.ie that there had been “no progress” on their concerns, and another industrial action would take place next Wednesday. Mary Fogarty, a spokesperson for the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation which is fronting the protests, said:
On a continuous basis, the emergency department and wards are overcrowded. There isn’t the approved ratio of nurses to admitted patients, and there are clinical risks which need to be addressed.
She said the nurses had hoped for an intervention from Minister for Health James Reilly after their first protest, but none had been forthcoming. Ms Fogarty said one cause of the problem was that €13million in funding was “missing” from the hospital’s budget, after not being transferred when health services in the region were reorganised.
“When Ennis and Nenagh hospitals closed some services, the money should have transferred to Limerick,” she said. “We understand that it didn’t.” She added another problem was that the previous minister for health, Mary Harney, had employed additional consultants but not provided the funds to pay them. “That money is now coming out of nurses’ budgets,” she said.
When asked whether the HSE would like to respond to the nurses’ concerns, a spokesperson said: “No, not at present.”
In a separate development, nurses at Galway University Hospital yesterday said conditions for patients were “intolerable”. The INMO said 38 patients were on trolleys in the emergency department, eight of whom had been waiting for three days. One 78-year-old patient has spent the last four nights on a trolley, the nurses said.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Is there a special queue for celebrities and public figures?
@John O Reilly: if there is it would be interesting to see the about of jumping the que that would go on
@John O Reilly: It’s only for those that cant handle it. The vast majority are probably fine.
addiction is a disease. would you stop giving treatment to cancer patients cuz it didn’t work the first time?
@Stiles: my response is @wolfgang
@Stiles: Difference is: Anyone can get cancer!
It’s mostly not a choice. You can increase the risk of getting it (smoking, drinking, etc.), but these people choose to take the risk – mostly.
You’re not getting addicted because you try cocaine, heroine or whatever ones.
Cocaine is not that cheap, even in Ireland (according to Google).
So, why should feel sorry for someone who failed the program twice or more?
The problem is today, EVERYTHING has been classed as an addiction, because something happens in your brain.
You’re fat = food addiction, You gamble your money away = gambling addiction. Even sex: You’re cheating = sex addiction.
The “addiction” label on everything has become a free for all and the taxpayer has to pick up the tap.
@Stiles: Billionaires are the most deadly addicts of all
@Wolfgang Bonow: good rant Wolfgang.. hopefully you feel better now… but you’re wrong.. WHO recognises addiction as a disease.. its typically trauma that makes a person become an addict.. its always people who are far removed from the issue that make statements like yours.. I’ll bet none of your immediate loved ones have suffered from it. addiction isn’t a choice.. also you say the tax payer has to pick up the tab.. if you don’t help these people it’s likely the taxpayer will be more out of pocket with other issues created.. plus lots of addicts are taxpayers.. there’s a lot of misconcieved problems in your comment.. but work away…
@Stiles: the WHO had a re think on that a number of years ago actually
@Stiles: I don’t think it was a rant. Having cancer or an addiction are NOT the same thing. I hope we can agree at least on this part?
I also agree somewhat, that “addiction is not a choice”.
If I have 10 cans of beer every night = I have a problem.
If I need cocaine to do whatever = I have a problem.
I can get the beer in any shop, But: I have to look to get cocaine.
There’s no chance you can get “by accident” or convenience to get into cocaine.
My point was: You have have children classified as “gaming addicted”.
That’s in 99.9% just an excuse for bad parenting.
A lot of “addicted”, the ones who have a job normal live, use the addiction as an excuse.
Let’s be blunt: Anyone out there who likes a pint or eating or anything else, has today 100′s of excuses why he might be addicted and get it confirmed, because NOBODY can look into your head.
@mainmsam: no they didn’t.. just Google it..
@Wolfgang Bonow: you’re making unrelated points.. I’m talking about people being addicted to substances.. your suggestion with regards ten cans of beer being available in every shop but you have to look to get cocaine shows your lack of knowledge on the topic.. getting coke is as easy as getting beer, often easier, because dealers don’t go by off licence hours, plus they can deliver, plus they don’t ask for id, plus they give it to you on tick.. You’re not knowledgeable about this subject so I’d ask you to take this into account before being as opinionated as you are on it. addiction most often occurs after a traumatic life event and use a substance to ease their suffering before eventually becoming reliant on that substance. it’s actually a problem with the persons brain. research it..
@Stiles: don’t need to buddy, I’m 21 years sober I know they changed their thinking on it
“In total, 45% of the 4,084 cases involving cocaine were cases where the person was receiving treatment for a cocaine addiction for the first time”.
How many were on the 2nd or 3rd?
Maybe it’s time to size down the support a bit?
@Wolfgang Bonow: Always interested in how numbers are presented in a media context. trying to figure out the actual amounts (which should be shown) is always a maths problem, anytime that’s the case, people have a right to be highly suspect.
The drug of the insecure. Thats why its so prevelent
Delighted the welfare cuts are causing huge stress amongUkrainian chancers
Minimum unit pricing on alcohol is working nicely, could go further perhaps and ban it totally
“Cocaine, all around my brain”.
have your say