MEMBERS of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) at St Johns’ Hospital in Limerick City say they will be continuing their industrial action in the form of a work to rule for the foreseeable future.
The impasses comes after recent talks at the Labour Relations Commission failed to secure an agreement.
The union is claiming management is failing to honour an agreement reached at the start of the dispute to ringfence surgical beds, but management say that the huge surge in bed demand at University Hospital Limerick, where more than 100 people were waiting on trolleys on three separate days in the last week, makes it impossible to keep beds empty.
Commenting on this decision, INMO assistant director of industrial relations, Mary Fogarty, said: “INMO members in St Johns’ Hospital began industrial action in the form of a work to rule on November 23 due to ongoing nursing vacancies at the hospital, causing unsafe nurse to patient staffing levels.”
“Local engagement on 1st December concluded in a written agreement to enable the industrial action to end, but this was immediately breached by management. This action has severely dented trust and confidence in management.
“Further talks lasting eight hours at the Workplace Relations Commission also failed to reach an agreement, with the work to rule set to continue for the foreseeable future”.
The INMO officer said that nurses at St Johns’ Hospital are advocating for safe staffing levels and proper management of the available 89 in-patient bed capacity.
In a statement to the Limerick Post on the action, hospital management said: “In response to the significant surge in hospital admissions at this time of year, St John’s Hospital, as part of the University of Limerick Hospital Group, and having received additional nursing resources from the group, is making all beds available to help alleviate pressure on the UHL system.”
“St John’s Hospital acknowledges INMO ‘Work to Rule’ and the challenges faced by our staff due to patient demand.
“The INMO’s demand to close medical beds and ringfence surgical beds would result in a number of empty beds onsite at a time of significant pressures within the group, and with the needs of the health service in the region and, moreover, patients at heart, it is necessary to keep all beds open and available for use.
“We do so in full confidence that, with additional nursing resources from the group and the booking of temporary agency staff, we will satisfy both the needs of patients and safe staffing levels”.
The statement said that staffing vacancies are being filled on a daily basis with the use of temporary agency staff to ensure that all beds are staffed and available for patients.
“We also look forward to 15 posts at the hospital being filled in the new year, starting early January, which will further satisfy patient staffing levels at the hospital.
“We thank the nursing and all our staff for their ongoing commitment at this intense period of activity due to annual winter surges,” a hospital spokesperson said.
