Canadian Minister to go on six-day tour of Ireland to recruit doctors
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Canadian Minister to go on six-day tour of Ireland to recruit doctors
Words: Eva O’Beirne
Irish hospitals are currently battling record numbers of patients waiting on trolleys in overcrowded hospitals.
A team of Canadian recruiters led by a government minister are setting out on a six-day tour of Irish cities to recruit doctors.
“We certainly feel and hope that there will be significant interest amongst health-care professionals in Ireland,” said Newfoundland and Labrador Health Minister Tom Osborne.
Osbourne told CBC News that he is leading a team of eleven recruiters who will touch down in four Irish cities to convince doctors to make the move.
Doctors and nurses are being sought to fill gaps in the Canadian healthcare system, ones similar to what Ireland is currently facing.
The news comes as Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly admitted that people will die as a result of overcrowding in Irish hospitals.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) have urged the Irish Government to intervene and declare an “out and out crisis” as a total of 838 patients were awaiting a bed on January 4.
On January 3, Ireland witnessed a record high of 931 people waiting for a hospital bed.
INMO has stated that “no hospital is unaffected by overcrowding today” and that patients have been left on trolleys or chairs in emergency departments or elsewhere in every hospital.
Donelly said on the current hospital crisis “the literature is very clear that overcrowding increases patient risks, nobody can dispute this” adding that the current situation was “a perfect storm”.
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