Nurses defer planned strike action

NURSES at Sligo General Hospital have put off this week’s planned strike in a row over staffing levels.

The INO, SIPTU and the HSE were involved in talks at the Labour Relations Commission yesterday after which the LRC recommended that the parties would agree to an urgent referral of the dispute to the Labour Court.

Following a joint members’ meeting the unions agreed to adopt the LRC proposal.

“The grievances of our members in respect of safe staffing levels in Sligo General remain very clear and we are committed to seeking a resolution to this dispute which ensures the best possible care for patients attending the hospital. The HSE have committed to retain all members currently on temporary contracts and not to institute any further changes, pending a recommendation,” INO industrial relations officer Noel Treanor said.

The INO has said 19 nurses at the hospital were either sacked or didn’t have their contracts renewed by the HSE. Current staffing levels are inadequate to provide safe care at the hospital, it said.

According to the HSE, no nurses were provided during last week’s 10-hour strike, which was in breach of the national agreement contained in the framework for dispute resolution in the health services. While no nurses were provided on the wards, six nurses and two midwives, situated in an on-call room, responded to specific calls throughout the hospital.

Meanwhile, SIPTU has served strike notice from Thursday on the management of a nursing home in Co Longford in response to cuts in allowances for staff. The union says new owners who took over Our Lady’s Manor nursing home in Edgeworthstown at the end of February have withdrawn early-morning and night-shift allowances, the workers’ pension scheme and sick pay scheme.

* A helpline will be in place in Sligo General Hospital to address patients’ queries on 071 91 711 11.

A helpline for maternity patients with clinical concerns is at 071 91 746 23.

In Limerick, surgery and other procedures at three hospitals face disruption this week due to a threatened work-to-rule by 90 nursing secretaries. The secretaries work at the Mid-Western Regional, maternity and orthopaedic hospitals.

They will refuse to schedule surgery, handle charts, deal with phone calls and emails over the refusal of the HSE to fill 59 higher paid administrative posts, although they say a deal had been reached between their union IMPACT and the HSE. The union advised its members to press ahead with the action after a meeting with the HSE ended without agreement. The HSE would not comment yesterday.