Nurses’ union to vote members for industrial action over ‘huge gaps’ in system – The Irish News

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organization (INMO) will vote its members for industrial action on Monday over “major shortfalls” in the nursing and midwifery workforce.

The INMO said it is affecting the ability of its members to provide safe care.

INMO representatives from across the country gave examples of understaffing and “high risk” situations during a meeting at the Richmond Education Center in Dublin on Saturday.

They said it stems from the HSE’s “de facto” recruitment ban.

Many nursing positions in cancer, palliative care, pediatrics and rehabilitation are leaving vacancies, according to the INMO.

They said this is leading to increasing demands from HSE management on staff to work on days off, remain for significant unpaid periods after finishing a shift, as well as deal with increasing levels of frustration from the public who are waiting longer for services.

INMO Chair Caroline Gourley said: “INMO members have provided us with example after example of posts not being filled when a colleague leaves or retires and of posts deemed essential under the ED agreement do not deal.

“While there is a framework for safe nursing staffing and skill mix, many of the positions measured as needed to provide safe care in this regard are not being filled.

“A large number of temporary vacancies are being left vacant due to leave, particularly maternity, which is leading to extremely high risk situations for patients and working conditions that compromise the health and safety of registered nurses and midwives.

“It is the expectation of the HSE that nurses and midwives will work beyond their shift end time, volunteer for extra shifts on days off and that this ‘goodwill’ is expected to continue during this winter, INMO representatives have now made it very clear that this will not be the case.

“The HSE has designed a time-consuming and laborious application process for safety-critical posts under the pay-and-numbers strategy, which is designed to drag out the recruitment process.

“We are now seeing cases where it is taking up to 12 months to recruit much-needed nurses and midwives for vacant posts. This has had a very negative impact on nursing and midwifery.”

INMO general secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha said: “End-of-life care is now being compromised because of the HSE’s so-called recruitment caps, which are a moratorium on by any other name, nursing positions remain vacant in hospitals and in the community across the country.

“We know there are serious staffing gaps in maternity, oncology and palliative care in a number of acute hospitals across the country, including Wexford General Hospital, Connolly Hospital, University Hospital Limerick, University Hospital Cork and University Hospital Galway.

“There are now priority lists in many services because nursing and midwifery vacancies are not being filled.

“The hiring freeze is having a detrimental impact on the delivery of care. What we are seeing is a postcode lottery when it comes to vital early and end of life care, the removal of vital nursing and midwifery posts will only increase this.

“Filling vacancies in the new regional health authorities is now based on who calls the loudest, not clinical need.

“This is wrong, it is against the agreements the unions have with the HSE and it will be the basis of our next membership vote.

“Patients who need care and those who provide it deserve better.”