The INMO’s Midwest representative has warned that nurses in other areas of the region’s main hospital are considering industrial action.
The union is to ballot Intensive Care Unit nurses at University Hospital Limerick over the coming weeks, after “exhausting negotiations at local level”, with management to be notified of the outcome thereafter.
It says “the lack of consistent safe staffing in the Intensive Care Unit is having a detrimental impact on the physical and mental wellbeing of members working in this unit and their patients”.
The INMO also claims hospital management has failed to provide an appropriate contingency plan to address the nurse deficits in the ICU and the enablement of outstanding annual leave, time off In Lieu to be taken and/or paid.
The union’s Midwest Representative, Mary Fogarty has been telling Clare FM’s Fiona Cahill that nurses in other areas of the hospital are considering a similar path, due to the high levels of overcrowding there.
Listen to the full interview here:
The latest figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation show there were 104 admitted patients waiting for beds at University Hospital Limerick during morning rounds.
46 of those were on trolleys in the Emergency Department, with the remaining 58 accommodated in overflow areas of wards.
It comes on a day when 606 patients were left waiting for beds at hospitals across the country.
Response from the UL Hospitals Group:
Nurse management at UHL engages regularly with INMO colleagues at the joint Nurse Management Union Forum. Issues relating to staffing and other matters are discussed at this forum.
Nurse management have had two specific meetings with the INMO on the matter of ICU staffing and these have informed recruitment campaigns as well as planning for nursing staff leave entitlements.
These meetings have also led to the implementation of a number of short-term measures to ensure the continued safe delivery of care.
Our nursing recruitment campaign has been underway for some time, is running nationally and internationally, and includes a bespoke campaign for ICU nursing.
We have six clinical skills facilitator positions within our critical care unit, who support a significant training programme which includes new staff in the ICU unit.
Currently, staff are redeployed to the ICU to support patient care when required. Standards of care in the ICU, which requires one-to-one care, have always been maintained.
We are disappointed that the IMNO have sought to ballot their members at this stage. A ballot for strike action is premature given that local engagement and other dispute resolution procedures have not been exhausted. We remain committed to engaging on the matter to ensure satisfactory resolution of the matter.
Like all hospitals around the country, we are affected by staffing challenges and there is a concerted focus by the management at the hospital to ensure that staffing deficits are prioritised.
We are fortunate to have one of the most modern ICUs in the country. Staff working in the ICU provide exceptional care to our patients.
