Nursing union to ballot members as 'shortages impacting patient care'

The union will begin balloting its members on Monday for industrial action on the 'large gaps' in nursing and midwifery in the wake of the now-lifted recruitment ban. File Picture: Kzenon / Alamy Stock

Nurse shortages in cancer, palliative, paediatric, and rehabilitation care are now impacting patients and could worsen over the winter, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has said.

This includes “severe gaps in staffing” at University Hospital Limerick and Cork University Hospital in vital services such as maternity, cancer care, and palliative care, they warned.

The union will begin balloting its members on Monday for industrial action on the “large gaps” in nursing and midwifery in the wake of the now-lifted recruitment ban.

They held a meeting on Saturday with representatives from around the county, leaving senior union officials shocked at the “high-risk situations” now developing.

Union president Caroline Gourley said jobs are not being filled when someone leaves or retires — "even emergency department nursing roles, which are essential".

“While there is a Framework for Safe Nurse Staffing and Skill Mix, many of the posts measured as necessary to provide safe care under this are not being filled,” she said.

Temporary vacancies left vacant

“A large number of temporary vacancies are being left vacant due to leave, particularly maternity leave. 

"This is leading to extremely high-risk situations for patients and working conditions, which compromises the health and safety of the rostered nurses and midwives.” 

They say managers’ expectation is for nurses and midwives to show good will by working past the end of their shift or volunteer for additional shifts.

INMO representatives have now made it very clear that that will not be the case

She was critical of the “time-wasting” process needed to apply for exemptions to the HSE Pay & Numbers Strategy.

“We are now seeing instances where it is taking up to 12 months to recruit much-needed nurses and midwives into vacant posts. This has had a hugely negative impact,” she warned.

The union's general secretary, Phil Ní Sheaghdha, echoed her fears, adding: “Care that is provided from the start of life until the end is now compromised due to the HSE’s so-called 'recruitment caps', which are a moratorium by any other name”.