Harney throws down gauntlet to nurses
Nurses at the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) conference in Killarney had said earlier that they could not cope with patient numbers and believed such a move would constitute a health and safety risk.
Ms Harney told the 350 delegates that if they want to see health service reform work, they must not see all change as a threat to their interests.
Calling for greater flexibility from nurses, she said a lack of resources could not be blamed for all the ills of the health services.
“We all have to change. Nobody can be immune to the changes needed in the health services. We must remain focused on the big picture and work together,” she said.
She called for better rostering at A&Es, which she claimed had led to situations such as one nurse being charged with looking after 40 high-dependency elderly patients from 5.30pm until 8.30am.
She also said diagnostic facilities should be made available 24 hours a day, seven days a week at hospitals to speed up A&E waiting times.
Denying that there was a shortage of nurses in the country, she said Ireland has 50% more working nurses for every 1,000 patients than the European Union average.
The Tánaiste compared the Irish health services to the Irish economy in the eighties and said they too could be turned around if politicians, health professionals and administration staff “look at the big picture” and adopt the social partnership model.
In a move welcomed by the delegates, she also signalled her support for legislation allowing nurses to prescribe drugs for the first time.
The Tánaiste got an initially frosty reception from delegates brandishing placards calling for ‘more beds’ and ‘more action and less talk’.
In her speech, INO president Madeline Speirs told the Tánaiste that the health reform process was failing as senior management were not listening to nurses’ and midwives’ views.
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