Tag Archives: INMO

ALMOST one in 10 (9.2%) diagnosed Covid-19 cases in Ireland are nurses, according to HSE figures, the INMO has said this afternoon. The figures show that healthcare workers make up over a quarter of the Covid-19 positive cases tested in Ireland, according to INMO general secretary, Phil Ní Sheaghdha Out of the 9,599 cases diagnosed by April 11, this amounted to 2,501 healthcare workers (26%) – over a third (883) of whom were nurses. Ireland faces one of the highest rates of diagnosed healthcare worker infection in Europe. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control found on April 8 that across Europe, “between 9% and 26% of all diagnosed Covid-19 cases are in healthcare workers.” The INMO has called for action and clarity on the figures, including: a universal face mask policy for all workers in healthcare settings; more frequent and detailed publication of statistics on healthcare worker infection, including the source of transmission; updated guidance on PPE and …

    NURSES in Clare and throughout the Mid-West have overwhelmingly supported a national ballot for industrial action. The result of the ballot coincides with the revelation there are up to 60 nursing vacancies in University Hospital Limerick (UHL), which continues to struggle with overcrowding as INMO figures recorded 56 patients on trolleys on Tuesday, December 18. According to INMO industrial relations officer, Mary Fogarty, this doesn’t include ward nursing posts that were not funded since reconfiguration removed 24-hour casualty cover from Ennis and Nenagh Hospitals in April 2009. Ms Fogarty said eight beds were closed in St Camillus Hospital, Limerick and about ten funded beds in St Joseph’s Geriatric Hospital, Ennis. The union official pointed out if there was an examination about what St Joseph’s really required, this figure would be much higher. Asked if industrial action in the new year would made chronic overcrowding even worse, she stressed nurses were left with no other option. She said the …

Members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) in St Camillus Hospital, Limerick commenced a work to rule this morning. The industrial action comes some seven months on from notification by nurses to senior HSE managers that the clinical care of patients at the hospital is compromised due to ongoing unfilled nursing positions. Currently there are approximately 15 vacant nursing posts. The INMO, at the request of its members, has engaged with the HSE since last November in efforts to fast-track recruitment of nurses. So far this has not yielded sufficient numbers of qualified nurses and leaves the residents at ongoing risk. Calls by members for the HSE to curtail admissions to the 100 bed facility until such time as the nursing levels improve have also been rejected. Therefore, it is with regret that INMO members are left with no other option but to commence industrial action. The action will not harm any patient but will assist the available …

The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has welcomed the proposals to increase wages for students’ nurses and midwives. The proposals are to come into effect on March 1 after joint efforts of SIPTU nursing the Department of Health, PNA, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, independent facilitator Sean McHugh, HSE and INMO, with supporting research by USI. The USI found that 93% of student nurses have thought about emigrating when they qualify. USI are hopeful that this number will decrease once the pay increases come into effect. Student nurses and midwives are currently paid below the minimum wage at a rate of €6.49 an hour. “USI welcomes the action by the Government to relieve the strain on financially crippled student nurses,” Kevin Donoghue, USI president, said. “I read about one nursing student who was paid just €374 after tax for working 114 hours in three weeks, which equates to a mere €3.28 an hour. This change in the …

Members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), working in the country’s 26 emergency departments, on Tuesday evening rejected, by a margin of 58% to 42%, proposals, brokered by the WRC, to address overcrowding, staffing and patient safety issues. The INMO Executive Council, in response to the ballot result, has convened a National Meeting, of the Emergency Department Strike Committees and Representatives, for 12 noon, on this Thursday, in INMO Head Office. In addition, the executive council has sanctioned the first day of strike action, involving two hour rolling stoppages, for Thursday, January 14 ,with subsequent days of action following later. The INMO Executive Council, at a special meeting today, also reviewed the feedback from information meetings held in recent weeks. At these meetings it was clearly stated that members have no confidence, in local management, to deliver, on a 24/7 basis, the required changes to improve the environment for both patients and staff in Emergency Departments. This lack of confidence was confirmed, in …

Extra measures are being sought by a nursing union to tackle overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) after the emergency department (ED) recorded the highest number of patients on trolleys earlier this week. According to the INMO Trolley Watch, there were 55 patients on trolleys in wards and the ED in UHL on Tuesday, compared to 46 in Beaumont Hospital. The UHL figure had increased dramatically from 34 on Monday before it reduced to 39 again on Wednesday. INMO industrial relations officer, Liz Curran, urged the HSE to eliminate any red tape that could delay the hiring of an extra 70 nurses for the UHL Hospital Group, so that new nurses can start working as soon as possible. Ms Curran called for an increase in the number of community intervention teams in the region, as she said this would assist with the earlier discharge of patients and would also help reduce the number of patients who require hospitalisation. Nurses in …

Clare acute patients breathed a collective sigh of relief on Tuesday morning after a last-ditch deal averted nurses’ strike action in Ennis Hospital and other local hospitals. Over 1,000 nurses in the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) and SIPTU had voted to commence a work-to-rule in University Hospital Limerick, Ennis Hospital, Nenagh Hospital and Croom Orthopaedic Hospital at 8 am on Tuesday. However, this action was deferred late on Monday night after a new deal brokered between the unions and management at the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) secured the recruitment of an extra 70 nurses for the UL Hospital Group. The planned work-to-rule would have seen nurses withdraw from all non-emergency clerical and administrative duties. SIPTU health organiser, Tony Kenny said nurses had based their decision on the extreme level of overcrowding in UHL, the lack of agreed nursing levels and failure by management to agree a fair, equitable and workable solution to ease this problem. He said the …

UP to 1,200 nurses in the Mid-West look set to approve industrial action early in the new year over “unsafe” plans to provide more than 100 extra beds in corridors and unsuitable rooms at Ennis Hospital and other local acute hospitals without extra staffing. Members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives’ Organisation (INMO) and SIPTU will ballot for industrial action during the first week of January over a new HSE escalation plan, which is designed to tackle chronic overcrowding in the emergency department (ED) at University Hospital Limerick (UHL). The general consensus indicates this ballot for industrial action will be approved by a large majority, paving the way for a work-to-rule as a starting point possibly during the third or fourth week of January. INMO representative, Mary Fogarty has demanded to know who sanctioned the reconfiguration of acute hospitals services in the Mid-West, which involved the closure of 24-hour emergency services in Ennis without putting the required additional resources into …