09 January 2023 - Hospitals overcrowded in Ireland
Hospitals told to implement seven-day working with ‘immediate effect’ to ease overcrowding
Pat Leahy and Paul Cullen (The Irish Times, 06/01/2023)
Health Service Executive top officials have told hospitals to outline their plans for seven-day working for staff, including senior doctors, immediately in a bid to ease the overcrowding crisis in emergency units.
Seven-day-week plan 'may not work for smaller hospitals'
Niamh Griffin and Jess Casey (Irish Examiner, 07/01/2023)
Patients in smaller hospitals may not benefit from the drive for a seven-day week, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said yesterday.
It comes as the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) says it will consult with members about strike action, and schools warn of absences for the coming weeks.
Hospital overcrowding: Hundreds of well patients await discharge while 1,000 care home beds empty
Paul Cullen and Pat Leahy (The Irish Times, 09/01/2023)
About 1,000 nursing home beds lie empty across the State, according to a new survey, while hundreds of well patients remain in hospital due to a lack of discharge options.
Private nursing homes have 900-1,100 beds available to receive hospital patients at present, according to estimates from Nursing Homes Ireland (NHI) based on a survey of members in recent days.
HSE needs to 'scale up' its use of private beds - minister
Paul Cunningham (RTE, 08/01/2023)
Minister of State at the Department of Transport and Environment Jack Chambers has said there has been an under-utilisation by the Health Service Executive of bed capacity in private hospitals.
Minister Chambers said the HSE needed to "scale up" its use of private beds as overcrowding continues in emergency departments.