Services at St Luke’s Hospital are being suspended for a longer period than expected.
Outpatient clinical services at the local general hospital are being halted until the end of this week, despite the hospital previously claiming they would resume tomorrow, December 8th.
All elective inpatient services are also suspended until then, with the hospital planning to contact all affected patients and reschedule them at the earliest possible time.
It comes as St Luke’s is again treating the highest number of patients with Covid19 in the country, with 30 cases there last night (Sunday).
A statement released to KCLR from the local hospital says the situation is evolving and reviewed daily, as more staff come back into work due to either contracting Covid 19 or being identified as a close contact and self-isolating.
However local SIPTU representative Denis Hynes says more workers need to be hired, especially in the household department, so full service can resume;
“Over the last couple of months we haven’t been recruiting. We have recruited some nurses in the hospital, and we have recruited a few healthcare assistants” he explained to KCLR News. “However, we need staff recruited now in household to do the essential deep cleaning that’s needed in Covid wards and other areas of the hospital. We need recruitment for orderly security personnel, and also for catering. These are areas that can’t be forgotten.”
