The CEO of UL Hospitals Group says she's surprised and disappointed by the INMO's comments on staffing levels at the region's maternity hospital.
Ahead of a lunchtime protest this Friday, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation say the numbers nurses working at Maternity Hospital Limerick are inadequate.
But UL Hospitals Group is rejecting any suggestion that services are unsafe for mothers and their babies as Clare FM's Edel Hynes Reports.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives organisation are taking to the streets this Friday in protest over staffing levels which they say are "totally inadequate" and have now reached "a crisis stage".
They also say there's "significant clinical skills deficit" at the hospital, with junior midwives taking on the roles of more senior colleagues.
Their Industrial Relations Officer Mary Fogarty is calling for the issue to be tackled immediately.
But The UL Hospitals Group says staffing deficits at UMHL are recognised by all parties concerned and it rejects any suggestion that maternity services are unsafe for mothers and their babies.
Its CEO says the hospital has been dealing with legacy issues around the financial crisis, recruitment embargo and the loss of experienced staff through voluntary exit schemes, coupled with an increase in births and the complexity of cases.
Colette Cowan says she's surprised and disappointed by the INMO's comments and insists every effort has been made to increase staffing levels at the region's maternity hospital.
Meanwhile, the Health Minister is appealing to the country's largest nursing union to withdraw the threat of strike action at the country’s most overcrowded emergency departments.
Fianna Fáil has accused the Minister of shirking responsibility for the scale of the problem.
Leo Varadkar says he shares concerns about overcrowding – but industrial action will only make it worse.
