Ambulance crews back nursing home picketers

AMBULANCE crews are refusing to transfer non-emergency patients from one of the country’s largest nursing homes as a two-month-long picket by former staff outside the centre continues.

The ambulance personnel employed by the South Eastern Health Board in Co Wexford yesterday officially notified the SEHB that they are no longer prepared to service the Spring Valley Nursing Home in Enniscorthy, unless they are responding to genuine

emergencies. They will not be available for routine transfers or non-emergency calls from the 50-bed nursing home, which has been the centre of a bitter protest over pay and conditions.

More than 30 kitchen, housekeeping, cleaning and care attendants walked off the job on August 28 and have picketed outside the home ever since. Director of nursing at the home, Marjorie Molloy, said the action hasn’t made the slightest difference to the running of the home.

Residents who have hospital appointments are being ferried to and from their doctors by staff at the home. “It’s having no impact at all on us. I collected one of my patients from hospital myself and another was collected from hospital by a taxi. The withdrawal of ambulance service for routine calls is of no consequence to us. We have the goodwill of our staff and the relatives of the people here. We’re all clubbing together and nobody is suffering. All the patients here are extremely well and we’re working as normal.

“I do feel for the people outside on the picket line. It was a terrible morning and the weather has been shocking all weekend. I do feel they were badly advised. Some people thought this dispute would be over in a matter of hours. But it is now into its third month,” Ms Molloy added.

SIPTU regional secretary for the midlands and south east, Mike Jennings said: “We hope this action will put further pressure on the management of Spring Valley Nursing Home to engage in meaningful talks with SIPTU to bring about a settlement of the industrial action at the home, which began on August 28, 2002. This gesture of solidarity from the ambulance crews will be a significant boost to our efforts to ensure a fair settlement of this strike.” SIPTU has also lodged a formal complaint to the SEHB regarding the manner in which Spring Valley Nursing Home is being run.

“We have informed the health board of 13 areas where we believe the nursing home is in breach of the 1993 Nursing Home Regulations.”