The Irish Nurses' Organisation has said that the opening of a new Accident and Emergency Department at Naas General Hospital in Co Kildare, which was scheduled for this Friday, will not now go ahead.
According to the INO, the new equipment and beds are in place but it says the Eastern Regional Health Authority will not provide the funding to get the unit up and running.
The union says it is a devastating blow to staff and has urged the ERHA to release the funding.
The INO says that as a result patients will continue to lie on trolleys in an overcrowded portacabin which is where the current A&E Department is located.
