Nursing staff at the Midland Regional Hospital in Mullingar have voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action in protest at overcrowding and staffing levels.
The vote for industrial action was endorsed by just over 92% of the nurses and midwives who took part in the ballot over the past week. It is expected the action will initially involve a work-to-rule but could escalate further if demands for more staff are not met.
Crunch talks have been taking place between the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) and the HSE since nurses staged a lunchtime protest on January 27. The INMO has said at least 60 additional nurses are needed in order to make the hospital safe. The HSE has, in the past six months, advertised just 10 positions and none of these have been filled.
Last ditch talks are to take place today (Wednesday) in a bid to avert industrial action by nurses at the hospital. The INMO are hopeful that the HSE will green-light a substantial amount of additional staff.
TROLLIED
According to the INMO, the number of patients on trolleys at the hospital has surpassed record levels. In the days since the lunchtime protest, it has remained in the high 20s practically every single day.
On Monday of this week, February 16, there were 27 on trollies (18 in the Emergency Dept and nine on wards). By Tuesday it had dropped to 22 (12 in the ED, 10 in wards).
On Monday last, February 9, there was 22 on trollies and over the course of last week, it dropped to 18, rose to 28, dropped to 15 before rising sharply to 27 by Friday.
The INMO say that extra nurses and extra beds will solve this crisis. They want interviews to take place locally as the processes for hiring in Mullingar is lengthy, taking up to four months between interview (in Leitrim) and appointment by the HSE’s National Recruitment Service.
Along with extra nurses, the union is seeking the opening of 12 additional step-down beds in St Mary’s Hospital, Mullingar and others at St Joseph’s Hospital, Longford. The INMO also want office space in the Phase 2B hospital building moved to a different location so another ward can be opened. They also want the HSE to take another look at its plans for a new Emergency Department in Mullingar. Construction on it has already begun.
260 MEMBERS
The ballot on industrial action was conducted by the union among its 260 members between Monday and Saturday so as to ensure as many nurses on the various rosters and shifts could vote.
INM’s industrial relations officer for the midlands, Derek Reilly, says he hopes agreement could still be hammered out and the industrial action avoided.
“The HSE and the Ireland East Group acknowledges the hospital needs staff, so there is no issue there. We will meet again this Wednesday and we hope there will be recruitment for Mullingar on proper wages and full time contracts. After that we hope to see how best to allocate staff, but if no agreement is reached, we will serve notice of industrial action for three weeks time.”
Mr Reilly negotiated on behalf of the INMO in Naas General Hospital and secured an additional 39 nurses recently, so hopes are indeed high that more nurses can be secured for Mullingar.
