Public encouraged to attend protest at mullingar hospital

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) is encouraging members of the public to attend its luncthime protest at the Midlands Regional Hospital Mullingar today.
The protest will be staged from 1pm until 2pm and is being held to highlight continued overcrowding and poor staffing levels in the hospital. The union stated that there are 30 patients waiting on trolleys for a bed in the hospital this morning.
The union added that the numbers of patients on trolleys, both in the ED and throughout the hospital, are now at record levels. Figures for December 2014 show a 253% increase, compared to December 2013, with 409 sick and vulnerable people on trolleys waiting for an in-patient bed in the hospital during that period.  30 patients are waiting for a bed this morning.
The INMO is demanding that the Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar, intervene directly to allow Midland Regional Hospital, Mullingar recruit additional nurses and midwives.
The organisation is also seeking that additional step-down beds are opened in St Mary’s Hospital, Mullingar and in St Joseph’s Hospital, Longford.
Speaking today, INMO Industrial Relations Officer, Derek Reilly, stated: “It is acknowledged by the HSE that the emergency department in Mullingar is one of the most poorly staffed in the country. An additional ten nurses have been promised, since last September, but to date not one interview has taken place.”
Mr Reilly continued: “Staff in the Midland Regional Hospital, Mullingar, are working in a state of crisis on a daily basis. Furthermore, patients in the hospital have had to put up with the indignity of being cared for on trolleys for far too long.  Mullingar is now in a critical situation with patient care being compromised.”