Carol Nolan warns ICU bed and staffing crisis in regional hospitals
Carol Nolan warned of ICU bed and staffing shortages at Tullamore and Portlish hospitals and urged the Taoiseach to address staffing as well as bed capacity. She argued that ICU beds are ineffective without the necessary staff and highlighted the one nurse to one patient ratio required in critical care.
Immediate concern
Nolan flagged shortages of ICU beds in both Tullamore and Portlish hospitals and said she had spoken to many nurses about the situation in Tullamore.
Staffing challenge and nurse-to-patient ratio
She urged the Taoiseach to tackle the staffing shortfall, stressing there is no point in having beds if there are not enough staff to man them. Nolan emphasised that ICU care is very staff intensive and typically requires a one nurse to one patient ratio.
Surge training and readiness
Nolan noted that up to 1,500 staff were trained during the pandemic to be ready for a surge and to significantly increase capacity if further COVID surges required additional ICU capacity.
Government capacity and ongoing work
She acknowledged that the facility exists within the health service to ramp up critical care capacity, that there has been an increase in beds since the beginning of the year, and that work will continue to ensure sufficient critical care capacity.
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The same issue, we have a shortage of beds, ICU beds, in both Tullamore and Portlish hospitals, but in addition to that, and I have spoken to many nurses already about this situation in Tullamore, we also need staff. There's no point in having beds if we don't have the staff to man them. So I would urge you, Taoiseach, to try and address the staffing issue in addition to the ICU bed issue. The entire issue with an ICU bed is staff, you know, we have one nurse to one patient ratio in ICU, it's very staff intensive as it has to be, and so therefore up to 1,500 staff were trained during the pandemic to be ready for a surge and to significantly increase capacity in relation to any further searchers in the context of COVID that would require additional ICU capacity. So the facility exists within the health service to ramp up capacity in terms of critical care, if necessary, and there's been an increase in beds since the beginning of the year, but we will continue to work on that, and I accept the bona fides of the questions asked, and it is a genuine objective of ours to make sure that we have sufficient critical care capacity to deal with the issues.
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