Nurses stage four-hour work stoppage over ‘unsafe’ A&E
They warned that admissions over the past two years had spiralled to more than 150 a day, from fewer than 100, without any extra nurses deployed.
Up to 100 acute beds in Limerick, Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s have closed under the reconfiguration of emergency care services which led to ED care being concentrated on the Mid-West Regional.
The stoppage was taken to highlight what the nurses say are unsafe and dangerous conditions in the ED& for both patients and staff.
Nurses leaders and hospital management said the stoppage did not pose any threat to patient safety, with contingency plans put in place by agreement.
Up to 30 nurses attached to the A&E placed a picket on the hospital’s main gate from 1pm to 5pm.
Those who were rostered for duty during those hours and who took part in the stoppage were docked pay.
Mary Fogarty, industrial relations officer of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, did not rule out an escalation of the dispute.
A work to rule has been continuing for some months in other sections of the hospital due to overcrowding.
Ms Fogarty said: “This work stoppage is to highlight the extremely unsafe situation in the emergency department for patients and the unsafe conditions for staff working there.
“The reconfiguration process which commenced two years ago has placed huge demands on the hospital and it is overcrowded in the emergency department and it is unsafe. We have spent two-and-a-half years speaking to the HSE on these issues and we now have reached this impasse and members now feel they have to take this action on behalf of patients to highlight how unsafe it is.
“We may ask the public to join us in future days in a protest outside the hospital. Nurses are giving up four hours of their pay and time to highlight how seriously they view the situation.”
She added:& “The solution to the problem is to open the 25 closed (acute) beds in the hospital and recruit additional nurses to care for the admitted patients.”
Jim McGrath, SIPTU nursing branch organiser, said up to 150 people access the & ED each day, compared to fewer than 100 prior to configuration, without any additional staff.
He said: “I am asking the Minister for Finance in his local constituency to provide extra funding to the department and the hospital. We are under-funded and this dispute will continue until our appeals are listened to.”
HSE Mid-West area manager Bernard Gloster said the work stoppage & was extremely regrettable and a cause of concern. He said all emergency situations would be responded to during the work stoppage through discussions with nurses, doctors and other staff.
“It is going to cause some level of difficulty to the public,” he said.
He said extra government funding will not be made available to the hospital, which is already running at €14 million over budget this year.
Mr Gloster added that it would be better for all to sit down and see how they can best utilise their resources.
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