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NURSES WORKING IN the emergency department of Galway’s University Hospital have voted unanimously in favour of industrial action.
Members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation at the hospital voted 100% in favour of work-to-rule action due to excessive overcrowding, limited space, lack of beds and dangerously low staffing levels.
Work-to-rule action is due to take place at Galway University Hospital in three weeks, beginning on Tuesday, 3 February.
Industrial action
This means that nurses will not perform any administrative, clerical or non-clinical tasks. Nurses will only engage in their professional duties involving the provision of clinical care to patients within the emergency department.
The group said that the dangerous situation in the emergency department is continuing to escalate, with patient care being compromised. It added that the situation is further compounded by management’s plans to temporarily close 19 acute beds to facilitate a building project.
The INMO said it warned Galway management last summer that the overcrowding situation would deteriorate particularly during winter months. In spite of this warning management is continuing to press ahead with its plans to close beds.
The action in Galway comes a week after one of country’s busiest hospitals, Beaumont Hospital, announced its intention of going on work-to-rule for similar reasons.
Last week, the Health Minister Leo Varadkar warned that the situation would only get worse this week and said that he was “sick to death of this problem”.
While yesterday, he said significant progress has been made in tackling the overcrowding crisis in the country’s emergency departments, adding, we’re “not out of the woods yet”.
Overcrowding
Speaking this morning, Clare Treacy, INMO Industrial Relations Officer said its members were gravely concerned for the well-being of patients at the emergency department of Galway University Hospital.
The level of overcrowding and staff shortages is impinging on nurses’ ability to provide safe, quality care. The idea of closing beds in such circumstances is simply incredible and alarming. Major change is required to turn this degrading situation around. Additional trolleys on wards will not address the root cause of Emergency Department overcrowding.
Speaking on the issue Anne Burke, INMO Executive Council member and Clinical Nurse Manager at the Emergency Department of Galway University Hospital said:
“The conditions in the Emergency Department for both staff and patients have reached an intolerable and grossly unsafe state. It is no longer possible to provide professional and high standards of care to vulnerable patients in such unsafe, under-staffed and immoral conditions.”
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Fair play to the nurses. They do a fantastic job.
Excuses,excuses,excuses.Solve the problem Leo
More beds being closed. How will this solve anything.
Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before you realise that there is a problem ……
They have had the problem for years,incapable of finding the solution.
There has to be something really wrong with a health care system that results in nurses having to strike to get something done Those staff face loosing pay to try get better conditions for their patients
The system is blocked because there are not enough step down and nursing home beds its not rocket science
The public health system has been cut to the bone so even if you could go home with the help of a PHN calling that is gone now
The cost of keeping a patient in hospital is rising so someone needs to wake up and start to shake up the Health system from the top down
No point in having more Administrative staff or Consultants if you haven’t got the basics sorted
Reopen Roscommon A&E which was closed by the traitor Reilly!
Reopen Roscommon A&E now! They spent €8million on upgrading it a few years ago and then after promising to keep it open the Lying traitor Reilly closed it within weeks of his crooked government coming to power.
Mmmmmm
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