The GSD has issued a statement raising concerns about elective surgical procedures and other services at the GHA being affected "by staffing issues and bed shortages".

A statement from the GSD follows below:

Elective surgical procedures and overall services at the GHA are being impacted by staffing issues and bed shortages. Despite repeated assurances from Government that bed shortages at St. Bernard’s Hospital were  a thing of the past, these continue. Additionally, staff vacancies, which remain unfilled for lengthy periods of  time, are having a knock-on effect on delivery of key services.  

The GSD have been raising these issues for some time, but the Minister for Health has sought to minimise  the severity of the situation and deflect from the realities on the ground. 

In recent days, matters appear to have come to a head, resulting in the cancellation of various elective  surgeries which were due to take place at St. Bernard’s Hospital, and which will now have to be rescheduled.  To compound matters, the number of beds available for patient admissions appears to have reached a critical  low. 

Having spent approximately £1 million on the upgrades to the sterilisation unit in May 2023, the Government  launched the Theatre Services Sterile Unit at St. Bernard’s Hospital, with their customary fanfare, claiming that surgery cancellations attributable to failed decontamination procedures would be a thing of the past.  

Just 3 weeks ago, the Minister for Health said in Parliament: “Cancellation rates have halved. Thanks to  initiatives like the ring-fenced orthopaedic beds at Dudley Toomey Ward, surgical throughput remains  protected even during periods of peak hospital occupancy. Gone are the days, Madam Speaker, when we had  to cancel surgeries as a result of bed shortages at St. Bernard’s Hospital.” That statement failed completely  to address that other issues within the GHA also affect whether elective surgeries can go ahead. In any event,  the GSD continues to receive information that a lack of acute beds being available at the Hospital is also  contributing to elective surgery cancellations.  

Shadow Minister for Health, Joelle Ladislaus said, “Even though we have been saying that there are staffing  issues at the GHA, and that assertion has been evidenced by GHA staff taking industrial action, most notably  at a demonstration last month, it still seems that the Minister for Health continues to refuse to listen to those  on the ground.  

The latest spate of surgical cancellations appears to have been due to staffing issues at the Theatre Services  Sterile Unit and may have been avoided if vacancies weren’t left unfilled for so long. Citing worldwide shortages of healthcare workers only goes so far in explaining the issues being faced by the GHA. There are  factors which are worsening the situation, such as lengthy periods of delay to fill vacancies because of  unnecessarily bureaucratic processes; staff burnout due to the excessive expectations placed on them  because services expand rapidly without carrying out proper risk assessments as to their viability; and a  failure to listen to staff on the ground as to what is needed. It is likely that at least some of these issues would be alleviated by the conclusion of the process of the skill mix review, where an evaluation as to the different  types and levels of healthcare professionals that the GHA has takes place to ascertain where the gaps are,  and an appropriate response to its findings.  

Even though the Minister denies this to be the case, from the information that we continue to receive, there  does seem to be a very limited availability of beds within St. Bernard’s Hospital, and persistent bed  management issues, and so the question must again be asked, why do these issues continue to arise? Until  these problems are addressed the situation at St. Bernard’s Hospital will inevitably continue to deteriorate.”