Son Espases Hospital is to reinforce staff numbers in the emergency department and open beds in order to decongest the department. Unions had been warning of "saturation" since last Wednesday. There was "overcrowding of patients in confined spaces, preventing compliance with the required safety distance".
The SATSE nurses union had drawn attention to the number of patients in emergencies and to the number who were pending admission to wards. The union said that 56 beds were not being used because of the hospital's summer plan.
This closure of beds, in the union's view, was a "reckless" measure, given the current circumstances with coronavirus. It had previously highlighted the difficulties which could arise because of beds not being used.
The union stressed that the patients in emergencies were not coronavirus cases.