Nurses vote in favour of industrial action

MEMBERS of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation in the emergency department of the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Limerick have voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action.

Further meetings were due to take place with the Health Service Executive (HSE) on Wednesday but it is anticipated that if there is no resolution, notice of industrial action will be served on the HSE with a likely commencement date after a three-week period.
Nurses decided to conduct a ballot for industrial action after the HSE decided to cut 25 acute beds from the hospital last August as a cost-saving measure. The union claimed the decision has only resulted in increasing the numbers of admitted patients lying on trolleys in the emergency department, while in-patient beds lie empty.
“This response by our members at the hospital is due to sustained and constant hospital overcrowding, which was exacerbated initially by the closure of 50 acute beds in Ennis and Nenagh Hospitals in October 2009, following the reconfiguration of surgical services, and another 25 beds at St John’s Hospital in Limerick city because of budget constraints.
“The recent closure of a further 25 beds at the MWRH is a step too far for the demands upon the region’s acute hospital services and for nurses to stand over patient safety within the hospital. All reasonable efforts to address this unsustainable situation by the INMO at the MWRH have failed, including referral of the safety of patient care to HIQA,” the INMO stated.
INMO industrial relations officer, Mary Fogarty claimed nurses found themselves caring for patients in an unsafe situation with overcrowded wards and increasing trolley figures in the Emergency Department.
Ms Fogarty claimed the hospital was never appropriately equipped or prepared to deal with the reconfiguration of acute hospital services and that the subsequent bed reductions and budget cutbacks have made a bad situation not only worse but clinically unsafe.
The Mid-West HSE stated the issue of 25 bed closures at the MWRH Limerick arose out of reductions to agency and overtime at the hospital and across all health services in the Mid-West.
“At the end of June, the Mid-West area was €20m in excess of its allocated budget. The situation in A&E (ED) is complex and certainly there are high demands as evidenced by recent daily reports.  However, there were also significant pressures prior to reducing agency and overtime, which has resulted in the temporary closure of 25 beds,” he stated.