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Kildare Today

with Hannah Kelly

Frontline Workers Raise Concerns About Staffing Levels In Naas Hospital

Photo: Rolling News

It follows a meeting with the INMO and frontline healthcare workers

The INMO intends to seek bed closures at Naas Hospital as workers have raised concern about staffing levels.
 
It follows a meeting with them and frontline healthcare workers about the future of Naas General Hospital.
 
Staff are warning they are struggling to provide care safely under the current conditions.
 
Severe staffing shortages across hospital departments was highlighted during the meeting.
 
Also attending the meeting was a number of local representatives, including Labour's Mark Wall and Pat Balfe, and Social Democrat's Chris Pender and Aidan Farrelly.
 
The meeting detailed how at least 10 people who have progressed through recruitment are still waiting for approval to take up their positions, with many more affected.
 
A staffing agreement reached in March that still hasn't been implemented.
 
Those attending were informed that Emergency Department attendances in 2026 to date had already exceeded the total for the entire year of 2025 by 10 per cent.
 
Speaking following the meeting, both representatives highlighted that Kildare’s population increased by more than 25,000 between 2016 and 2022, reaching almost 248,000 people.
 
The concern raised by those working in Naas hospitals, is that the services available have simply not kept pace with the needs growing communities.
 
There is also growing pressure on emergency care, ICU, physiotherapy and mental health services.
 
A physiotherapy list of 4,500 people was a particular point of concern.
 
Cllr Pender says this should act as a "wake-up call for every public representative".
 
"Nobody wants to see hospital beds closed. But we cannot expect nurses and healthcare workers to carry the risks created by recruitment restrictions and years of inadequate staffing."
 
According to Deputy Wall, staff had outlined that overall, the hospital was "too small for the population it serves" and was "significantly over capacity".
 
The INMO and HSE have both been contacted for comment.

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