The Emergency Department Taskforce is to meet this morning to discuss hospital overcrowding.
The Emergency Department Taskforce is to meet this morning to discuss hospital overcrowding.
Talks were brought forward by a week, after the number of patients waiting for beds reached an all-time high of 612 on Tuesday, 66 of those at University Hospital Limerick.
Last night the HSE announced several changes for a number of hospitals, including extra beds and help from private hospitals.
The HSE has committed to opening 28 additional acute hospital beds at Galway University Hospital, which is also one of ten hospitals to benefit from 60 transitional care beds.
University Hospital Limerick will receive additional diagnostic services, and there has been no announcements for Ennis.
But the General Secretary of nurses union the INMO, Liam Doran, says the overcrowding crisis in hospitals cannot be resolved until more staff are hired.
Meanwhile, Nursing Homes Ireland says its members have more than 700 beds available that could be used to alleviate the overcrowding crisis in hospitals.
The group says it has identified 740 spaces in nursing homes around the country, that could be allocated to older patients where appropriate.
At the end of last month, the Health Minister Simon Harris said there were 450 delayed discharge patients in the system – who were mainly older people who couldn't leave hospital care – due to a lack of home support or a step-down bed.
CEO of Nursing Homes Ireland Tadhg Daly, says his members could provide transition care where appropriate.
The head of the UL Hospitals Group Colette Cowan will be among the guests on Clare FM's Morning Focus, 9:00 this morning (Friday).
