Nurses protesting outside mullingar hospital today describe conditions as horrific

At the lunchtime protest of INMO members outside the Midland Regional Hospital in Mullingar today, one nurse described conditions in the A&E department as "horrific".

Thirty patients are currently waiting on a bed at Mullingar Hospital. One nurse described the situation.

“The corridor was packed with trolleys from one end to the other. The night staff were completely exhausted. Not knowing where to start your days work.

"There's no privacy for the patients, even to just go for a wash, it's so hard for them to have any dignity. Some of them haven't got curtains round them, they're on the corridor. It's not on.

"Patients can't get any sleep at night time because the activity is ongoing all night. They're cross, they're angry, they take their frustrations out on us. You spend all your time apologising for the situation you're in.

"We need more beds and more staff to sort this. More doctors and better senior decision makers to move things on.

"They're building a new A&E now, they're putting €5 million into it and we're not getting one extra foot. Horrific."

The INMO is demanding that the Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar, intervene directly to allow Midland Regional Hospital, Mullingar recruit additional nurses and midwives.