Nursing Homes Ireland has warned that beds are closing due to inadequate staffing levels. The staff shortages in all sectors of the health service are compounding the crisis in Emergency Department provision.

Speaking to The Examiner, Tadhg Daly of the NHI said:

“We are facing into the most profound crisis in our ED departments this winter because nursing homes are now being forced to reduce capacity arising from an escalating crisis in the processing of nurse registration applications,”

The crisis is reaching chaos proportions; for instance Sligo A&E asked patients to go home recently (audio here). In Cork University Hospital the number of patients on trolleys instead of beds is up 350% from last year. The backlog in registration of nurses with the Nursing & Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI) stands at over 2,300. They blame lack of funding for the backlog.

The brain drain of medical professionals continues apace despite government’s spin about homecoming deals. A survey by NUIG of 2,000 medical students across six colleges found that 90% are planning or contemplating emigration. Ireland is educating Australia’s medical workforce.

4,000 medical and care professionals have left for Australia in the last 5 years on one specialised visa. Thousands more have used the regular Working Holiday two-year visa or the Residency Programme to bring their expertise to hospitals in Melbourne and Sydney.

In the same time we’ve lost over three years worth of graduating GPs to Britain’s NHS.

Better careers, better salaries & better conditions await staff abroad and incentives such as small lump sums, adverts with ukeleles and Barry’s tea just don’t cut it.

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