“Staffing shortages at MUH have never been as bad,” Mayo TD warns staffing shortages are putting patients at risk

Mayo TD Rose Conway-Walsh has warned that staffing shortages and overcrowding at Mayo University Hospital (MUH) are putting patient safety at risk, calling for urgent action to fill vacant frontline posts and address bed shortages.

Her comments come amid two days of overcrowding at the hospital, with concerns raised about vulnerable and elderly patients spending hours on trolleys in the Emergency Department.

Deputy Conway-Walsh said she had been informed that staffing shortages at MUH were worse than ever, leaving existing staff under extreme pressure.

She claimed more than 50 nursing posts at the hospital were awaiting national approval, while newly qualified nurses willing to take up work were being told there were no positions available.

“This is indefensible and must urgently be rectified,” she said. “Existing staff are under extreme pressure, and many are at breaking point from doing the job of three or four nurses. How is a hospital supposed to operate safely under these conditions?”

The Sinn Féin TD said the Safe Staffing Framework was not being met and argued that both patients and frontline staff were suffering as a result.

She also criticised the Government’s response to the situation, claiming that delays in approving posts were preventing the hospital from addressing its staffing difficulties.

Deputy Conway-Walsh said the Minister for Health had previously visited MUH and given assurances that the pressures facing the hospital would be addressed.

“Those assurances must now be honoured, and I will be raising this in the Dáil today,” she said.

With winter approaching, she called on the Minister to introduce changes to speed up the filling of frontline vacancies and urged the HSE to address the shortage of beds.

“Mayo patients deserve safe, dignified care, and staff at MUH deserve the resources to deliver it,” she said.