Galway Bay fm newsroom - There are major concerns for staff working at University Hospital Galway amid reports of health and safety breaches.
The city hospital is over capacity today (30/8) with 53 patients on trolleys in the A&E Department and along wards awaiting admission.
Full capacity protocol at UHG has been implemented by the HSE in recent days and the public is urged to attend their own doctor unless it's an emergency.
An unprecedented influx of people into the Emergency Department during what is normally the quieter summer period, has resulted in severe congestion and long delays for patients.
The top floor of the hospital is closed for essential remedial works to be carried out and oncology patients have been transferred to a new 75-bed ward as a result.
Anne Burke from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation says they have identified a number of breaches of health and safety standards today.
She also says that staff are entitled to work in, and patients are entitled to be treated in, safer conditions.
