Nurses at Cork emergency department to ballot for strike action
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation said the situation at the Mercy University Hospital’s emergency department has become “particularly acute” since the closures of two other such departments in Cork City and county — at the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital in July 2012 and at Mallow General Hospital in March 2013.
Among the issues highlighted by the INMO are:
*Occasions when nurses are assigned five to eight patients for observation. The ratio should be two patients per nurse;
*Understaffing on day and night shifts. According to the INMO, an agreement with hospital management in January 2013 provided for nine nurses by day in the emergency department and seven by night. However. the reality is often closer to six by day and five by night, the INMO said;
*Use of the dedicated paediatric bay to cater for an overflow of adult patients making it difficult to accommodate child patients.
Michael Dineen, INMO spokesman, told the Irish Examiner there have been times when the Mercy’s emergency department is “absolutely inundated” with patients, compounded by a shortage of acute beds in hospitals throughout the region.
“Our members feel they are on the brink of an adverse incident and, in that event, they’ll be ultimately held responsible because the appropriate level of care is not being provided to patients,” Mr Dineen said.
While the Mercy-managed urgent care centre in Gurranabraher catered for about 1,400 patients last year, it was not enough to alleviate the pressure at the Mercy itself, Mr Dineen said.
As a result, nurses felt vulnerable and were balloting for strike on the basis that they need to protect themselves as well as their patients, he said. The ballot will involve around 30 staff.
Hospital management said they were “aware that there are difficulties regarding staffing levels in the emergency department” which they said the hospital has been addressing “on a number of fronts, including through a recent recruitment campaign which will see up to 10 additional nurses starting on Monday week”.
The ultimate plan for the Mercy’s emergency department — where almost 31,000 patients presented last year — is to reduce it from a round-the-clock toa 12-hour service, which means the only 24-hour emergency department in the city and county will be Cork University Hospital.
