'Crying in work' the norm for healthcare workers, Labour Party conference hears

Labour TD Duncan Smith at the party conference. Picture: Andy Gibson.

Trolley crises are now a summer problem in Ireland as well as winter, while crying in work and “pit in the stomach” feelings are the new norm for healthcare workers, the Labour Party conference has heard.

The party’s spokesperson on healthcare, Duncan Smith, told the conference that the trade union movement was vital to the health service because it not only represented workers but also patients.

“That’s what comes out when speaking to senior officials or ordinary members of trade unions of the health service, they want to provide a health service that is going to look after and heal and cure the people that most need it."

Patients and families see the link between pay and conditions for those who are looking after them, he said.

“We live now in a health service that has now had a summer trolley crisis, not just a winter crisis. Trolley figures produced daily by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) show this Government has now normalised 500 people a day more or less on trolleys. It’s a standard figure that is incredible,” he said.

A situation that has also been allowed to be normalised is workers such as nurses of all grades “crying in work”, he claimed.

“These are experienced workers, given the pressure, going to work with a pit in their stomach thinking 'am I going to have the capacity to give the care that I need to give today?' That is the situation that exists in our health system as I see it,” he said.

Phil Ni Sheaghdha, General Secretary of the INMO at the Labour Party conference. Picture: Andy Gibson.

INMO general secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha told the conference that the health service is excellent in Ireland – but only for those who can access it.

“The problem is access. This week in Ireland, we had 3,000 people on trolleys. There are ordinary people on trolleys whose health outcomes are worse just because they are on trolleys. That is a national scandal. We are increasingly witnessing in my view the unspoken scandal of elderly people on trolleys,” she said.

The situation during Covid-19 where people did not have access to their families is still happening, she claimed.

“Those of you who are elected – you should take the time to go into your nearest hospital to ask for access and walk through the corridors. If you walk through Cork University Hospital, the Mercy Hospital, or Kerry General, you will see what the numbers (on trolleys) means on a daily basis. Behind everyone of those numbers is absolute misery,” she added.

The housing crisis is seriously affecting the ability to recruit nurses and midwives as well as public services, Ms Ni Sheaghdha warned.

“When you are on a salary of €32,000 to €34,000, 76% of your wages going on rent is not going to last. We’re simply not going to be attractive enough,” she said.

Labour has said it would commit nearly €900m of new current spending and €590m of capital spending in health, “starting with major investment in community primary healthcare, disability and mental health services” to create a single-tier health system.