Hospital hit by maintenance dispute
The dispute affects all six hospitals in the North Eastern Health Board area, including Monaghan General Hospital which was criticised for its treatment of baby Bronagh's mother, Denise, prior to the premature infant's death, and Cavan General Hospital where mother and child were eventually admitted.
The row with the Technical, Electrical and Technical Union (TEEU) had been brewing for several months but reached a head last weekend when members withdrew their on-call emergency service.
The union is seeking payments for members rostered for on-call work to be extended to colleagues prepared to respond to emergency calls when they are not rostered as the designated on-call technician.
They say this was part of the original agreement put in place earlier this year but a spokeswoman for the health board said there had been a "difference in the interpretation" of the agreed terms.
The spokeswoman said the hospitals affected had been told to create contingency plans to deal with any technical emergencies but she could not give details of the procedures being adopted or the personnel available to implement them.
She said there was an offer on the table from the health board to go to arbitration on the issue and they were waiting for the TEEU to give a favourable response.
The affected hospitals are in Monaghan, Cavan, Navan, Dundalk, Drogheda and Ardee and the row has caused further concern for health service campaigners in the north east already angered by the reduction in services at Monaghan and the death of baby Bronagh a fortnight ago.
Monaghan Community Alliance chairman, Peadar McMahon, said he had heard about the dispute but was not clear what it meant for services or patients.
"The health board says there's contingency plans in place but what are they? If there's a major power cut in one hospital, does that mean we don't go there? Or does it mean we can expect services needing hi-tech equipment to be suspended so that they don't break down?" he said.
"There's a lot of confusion and confusion only adds to the anxiety people feel here."
Mr McMahon said there was also confusion surrounding the status of Monaghan General since the independent inquiry found the hospital should have admitted Denise Livingstone despite no longer having maternity services.
"There was an emergency case involving a child with a severe asthma attack on Christmas Eve and the parents were told that strictly speaking because there was no longer a paediatrician or anaesthetist, he should be sent to Cavan but because of the baby Livingstone case, they were going to treat him there.
"That suggests doctors are now working against their own protocols which isn't satisfactory for them and doesn't leave things very clear for us."
The North Eastern Health Board is not due to discuss the inquiry's findings and its implications for hospital services in Monaghan and the rest of the region until its next scheduled meeting on January 7.
Last night, Independent TD Paudge Connolly accused the health board executive of playing with the lives of hospital patients over the dispute.
"Like Murphy's Law, if the health board can get it wrong, they will get it wrong," he said. "The mindset is like concrete thoroughly mixed and permanently set."
