LISTEN: Union warns nurses in NI face tsunami of mental health issues due to pandemic

By Q Radio News

A health union is warning that nurses in Northern Ireland face a tsunami of mental health issues as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Director of the Royal College of Nursing claims many healthcare staff are already showing signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Pat Cullen, who has worked as a mental health nurse for 36 years, says the union has doubled its counselling services to meet the demand for support. 

It comes after a further 24 coronavirus related deaths were recorded in Northern Ireland.

According to Department of Health figures there have also been another 713 positive cases of Covid-19.

Some 842 patients are being treated in hospital, 70 of whom are in intensive care units.

Earlier an ambulance worker said paramedics on the coronavirus front line are worried about what lies ahead as they brace for the hardest days of the pandemic.

Amid mounting pressure on the hospital system, crews are now often waiting hours with patients in parked up ambulances outside packed emergency departments until precious bed spaces become available.

Currently more than a third of all calls to the ambulance service in Northern Ireland involve suspected Covid-19 patients. Of the 4,443 calls received in the last week, 1,514 were coronavirus related (34%).

Daniel McCollam (31) works on the region’s north coast and has been responding to coronavirus calls throughout the pandemic.

“These next couple of weeks I would imagine are going to be quite scary for everybody involved,” he said. 

“I’ve seen nurses in tears worrying about what’s going on at present and what’s yet to come.”