Staff Say Unsafe Pressure At Naas Hospital Is Worsened By Uncovered Sick Leave And Vacant Positions

The warnings were raised in the Dáil by Kildare North Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly, who said staff working in the hospital are describing conditions that are no longer sustainable.

Hospital staff at Naas General Hospital are warning that overcrowding and understaffing have become entrenched, with nurses saying unsafe pressure is now being treated as normal and frontline concerns are not being listened to.

The warnings were raised in the Dáil by Kildare North Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly, who said staff working in the hospital are describing conditions that are no longer sustainable.

He said 255 patients were treated on trolleys at Naas General Hospital in November, adding that the figure is not an anomaly but part of a cycle that repeats year after year.

He said families in Kildare already have to plan years in advance for basic services such as crèche places, school enrolment and GP access, and are now effectively doing the same when it comes to hospital care.

He said Naas General Hospital serves a population of around 250,000 people, following decades of rapid growth, yet remains the county’s only acute hospital.

Farrelly said while housing delivery has surged across Kildare, the health infrastructure needed to support that expansion has not kept pace.

According to staff concerns raised by the TD, 30 nursing posts remain unfilled, with some vacancies not advertised, and there is insufficient staffing to cover sick leave.

Staff have also warned that agency nurses are being relied upon to keep theatre and endoscopy lists running, while working hours are being changed without staff agreement.

Minister of State Mary Butler acknowledged the pressure on Naas General Hospital.

She said emergency department attendances are up 9 per cent this year, with a similar rise among patients aged 75 and over, who typically require longer hospital stays.

She pointed to completed and planned capital projects and said the hospital’s budget has increased from €74 million in 2020 to €130 million in 2025.

Farrelly warned that increased funding alone will not fix the problem if staffing levels and bed capacity continue to lag behind population growth.

Kfm News recently revealed how more than half of all people who presented to Naas General Hospital with self-harm last year were not admitted to an in-patient ward.

New figures show that Naas Hospital discharged almost sixty per cent of cases - the highest rate of non-admission in the Dublin–Midlands region.

Over 12% of those presenting also left the hospital before a recommendation was provided. 

Just twenty-six per cent of patients were admitted for medical or psychiatric care, far lower than neighbouring hospitals such as Portlaoise, Mullingar and Tullamore.

Naas General Hospital now has a higher non-admission rate than Tallaght and St James’s.

Despite this, Naas still recorded more than three hundred individuals presenting with self-harm over the year, and one in five of them returned with repeat self-harm - the highest repetition rate in the region.