Calls for staffing to be prioritised at Cork University Hospital

The call comes from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Association.

Management at Cork University Hospital are being urged to consider curtailing routine admissions to alleviate the pressure on nursing staff. 

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation have claimed there are 78 vacant nursing posts, however the HSE says there are only 48 vacant posts and CUH management are actively recruiting to fill them.

However nurses at the hospital say they are working in an unsafe environment and they want the hospital to prioritise staffing. 

The INMO says the five year moratorium on recruitment led to the loss of 5,000 nurses from the system and there is now a national shortage of nurses. 

Speaking to RedFM News Mary Rose Carroll of the INMO says it's very difficult to entice nurses who emigrated at that time back to Ireland.

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