INMO: Hospitals mooted to take on Portlaoise Hospital services 'already overcrowded'
Nurses say they are concerned about the transfer of some services from Portlaoise Hospital to other facilities.
The HSE has announced that complex surgeries are being moved from the Laois hospital to St James' in Dublin and Tullamore.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation says the announcement is concerning for staff both at Portlaoise and the hospitals that are to take on the additional work load.
General Secretary of the union, Liam Doran, says it could make matters worse.
He said: "Our concern is also shared by our members in the hospitals that are being spoken of as receiving this extra work, whether that be St James' or Tallaght or Tullamore, because they are already overcrowded.
"They are already understaffed, the staff are already overworked. So the idea of placing extra complex surgery on those hospitals in the absence of additional bed capacity and additional staff is going to make a bad situation worse.
"It will certainly not improve the patients' journeys."
