by Ronan Casey
Over 200 nurses at the Midland Regional Hospital in Mullingar could be on strike as soon as April 22, after notice was served to the HSE and Hospital management over what their union is claiming as ‘”broken promises” related to the hiring of 90 staff.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Union says staff at the hospital and the general public “were led up the garden path” in relation to an agreement reached in February to recruit 90 urgently needed new nursing staff.
It transpired on Holy Thursday, April 2, that despite a deal being done to hire the extra staff and despite interviews taking place, there is now no HSE funding to hire them. People hired for panels will now sit on these panels with no job.
According to INMO Industrial Relations Officer Derek Reilly the HSE said to his union that it is not stopping the posts, but it is up to the hospital grouping that Mullingar now belongs to, Ireland East, and the cash-strapped hospital itself, to fund the new staff.
The HSE and the hospital has now sought “the urgent assistance” of the Labour Relations Council to avert the full withdrawal of staff from the hospital on Wednesday April 22.
PROMISES
Roughly half of the 90 were all-new staff, hired to tackle the overcrowding head-on, whilst the remaining were replacements for staff who have left their posts due to retirements etc. An embargo meant these were never replaced, and instead the hospital had to hire agency staff on a daily basis.
Ten new staff nurses were to be recruited for the Emergency Department whilst 26 midwives were promised for the busy Maternity Unit, which is set to get even busier in the wake of the damning HIQA report into maternity care at Portlaoise Hospital.
A further 15 staff nurses were to be recruited for general ward areas. Other staff were to be spread throughout the hospital. There was also agreements on graduate and other wages and interviews for the posts began in February
WORK TO RULE
The extra staff announcement was made after the INMO threatened industrial action in January. Over 200 members voted by 92 per cent in favour of a work to rule amid concerns about ongoing overcrowding and staffing levels. These concerns reached their nadir on January 27 last when nurses staged a lunchtime protest, which garnered huge public support.
Since October of last year, large numbers of patients have started their hospital day on trollies, with anything between 20 and 32 patients on trollies daily over the past month. The overcrowding crisis was experienced by practically every hospital in the country over the winter, but figures on trollies have fallen nationwide with the exception of Mullingar where they have remained “dangerously high” as summer looms on the horizon.
INMO Industrial Relations Officer Derek Reilly says the INMO was been left with no option but to serve three weeks strike notice, and this was delivered to Hospital Management on Good Friday.
“It was a sad thing to have to do,” he told Topic. “We thought that these jobs were in the bag. Even the Health Minister Leo Varadkar indicated on national radio that if an agreement was reached, it should be honoured, but this is not the case.”
“The extra nurses we got after the ballot gave the existing staff and other medical staff at the hospital a bit of hope. Morale improved, but as we served notice this week, I met nurses who told me they are ready to walk out. Morale is even worse now and no one wants to strike but we have been left with no option.”
He claims the HSE has “passed the buck” in saying that recruitment is a matter for the hospital and not them.
“Where is the one of the best-performing but under-funded hospitals in the country going to find funding for extra staff when its budget has been continuously slashed?” he asked.
“Throughout this whole process, our members have continued to struggle with unmanageable workloads on a daily basis due to persistent overcrowding and understaffing.
We want these posts filled as an absolute priority in the interests of patient care.”
The management of Mullingar Hospital released the following statement as Topic went to press on Tuesday: “The management of the HSE/Dublin Mid-Leinster have sought the urgent assistance of the conciliation services of the Labour Relations Commission with regard to the staffing levels at Mullingar.
“As the INMO has advised us of their intention to engage in industrial action up to, and including, the full withdrawal of labour commencing on Wednesday April 22, an urgent hearing is required.”
Deputy Robert Troy says he will raise the matter “forcibly” when the Dail resumes on Wednesday. “It’s absolutely scandalous,” he said.
