Waterford, Ireland / WLR
Jan 19, 2021 10:45 AM
Ministers are set to discuss issues around pay for student nurses at Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, with nursing unions reiterating calls for fair remuneration.
In November, a review commissioned by the Department of Health and carried out by Prof Tom Collins recommended that the pandemic placement grant, a payment of €100 per week after tax, should be paid when student nurses are on hospital placements from January 2021 until the end of the pandemic.
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly will be providing colleagues with an update on the report, including his intention to publish it.
The review also recommended that the pandemic placement grant should be included in the terms of reference of any second review of supports for student nurses and midwives, and should also examine pay rates for interns on rostered duties.
Over 53,000 patients went without beds in Irish hospitals in 2020, INMO says
The organisation said hospital overcrowding is “unacceptable at the best of times, but it is doubly so when dealing with a contagious virus”. By Órla Ryan Thursday 31 Dec 2020, 2:28 PM Dec 31st 2020, 2:28 PM 10,550 Views 36 Comments
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Image: Shutterstock/Physics joe
AT LEAST 53,325 patients went without beds in Irish hospitals in 2020, new figures from the Irish Nurses & Midwives Organisation (INMO) show.
Over 30,000 of those incidents were recorded since Covid-19 was first detected in Ireland.
Admitted patients waited on trolleys and chairs, often in corridors, the INMO noted.
General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said hospital overcrowding is “unacceptable at the best of times, but it is doubly so when dealing with a contagious
Health Correspondent
In a normal year in health, there are usually some constants, such as hospital overcrowding, long waiting lists and major funding pressures.
In 2020, these issues did not disappear, but they were pushed down the agenda, as coronavirus dominated events, and occupied much of the time for health staff and officials.
So it makes for 2020 being an outlier year, when making comparisons with other periods in the health service.
It seems a long time ago now, but 6 January saw a record for hospital overcrowding, with 760 patients waiting, according to the figures collected by the Irish Nurses & Midwives Organisation.
Hospital overcrowding has not been solved and remains a big issue to eliminate.
Third wave clearly underway : No deaths and 727 new Covid-19 cases in Ireland
Professor Philip Nolan, Chair of the Nphet Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, said: The virus is transmitting very rapidly, faster than we have seen at any point since March.
Picture: Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie
Michelle McGlynn
The Chief Medical Officer has said he is gravely concerned as the Covid-19 situation in Ireland has rapidly deteriorated in recent days.
While the virus has been transmitting faster than at any point since March , health officials have said there has not been a case of the new variant of Covid-19 detected in Ireland.