St Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin has accused the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) of blocking the deployment of additional nurses to deal with a work-to-rule by emergency department staff.
The hospital claims the INMO is insisting the additional nurses be paid at a premium rate. “This is contrary to the claim by the INMO that this dispute is not about money,” it said in a statement.
The hospital says the work-to-rule is causing increased challenges for the emergency department. There were 35 patients on trolleys in the hospital this morning, compared to 21 on Monday.
Managers are working to the best of their ability to ensure patient safety is not compromised, according to St Vincent’s.
INMO members this morning withdrew from clerical work, non-nursing duties and the use of computers and non-emergency phones as part of the industrial action called over persistent overcrowding.
The union claims more than 100 patients are regularly being accommodated in the emergency department, which has a capacity for just 18 patients on trolleys. It says an inability to recruit and retain nurses has made it very difficult to provide safe care for patients and the working environment is intolerable for its members.
The INMO and the hospital are also in dispute over the number of trolleys counted daily in the department, with the union accusing management of under-counting patient numbers.
Trolley numbers at St Vincent’s were up 134 per cent in the first nine months of this year, compared to the same period in 2014.
About 100 INMO members protested outside the hospital on Monday to highlight their grievances. The hospital says it has contingency plans in place to minimise disruption during the work to rule.
