The Chief Officer of the South East Community Healthcare has apologised to patients and staff members for the overcrowding situation at the Department of Psychiatry in University Hospital Waterford.
Over the October Bank Holiday weekend, the were 54 patients in the 44-bed unit with some sleeping on chairs and the floor.
Kate Killeen White told WLR News that psychiatric units are obliged to admit patients in the interests of their own safety:
"Demand for our service often succeeds supply and the reality is that if a patient presents at the Department of Psychiatry in Waterford, and following assessment is deemed as requiring acute inpatient care, and we locally have exhausted all options to source a bed outside the fully occupied ward, we do accept such patients onto the ward.
"It's not the way we want to deliver services, it's not the services we want for the people of Waterford or indeed the South East. We do put in place alternative measures to manage at times of full occupancy, we utilise additional bed capacity where we can in both the public and private sector and we increase staffing.
"I do think it's important to acknowledge and recognise the commitment of the staff who manage in this situation, often on an ongoing basis, who do all they can to ensure the provision of safe and quality services to patients."
Meanwhile, the Psychiatric Nurses Association has organised a protest against the conditions at UHW's psychiatric unit. It will take place outside the hospital on Friday.
