INMO serve strike notice over ‘unsafe’ staffing levels at Mayo University Hospital’s Emergency Department
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has issued notice of industrial action at Mayo University Hospital over what it says are unsafe staffing levels in the Emergency Department.
Nurses working in the Emergency Department (ED) at Mayo are set to begin industrial action on Monday, November 3.
According to the INMO, the number needed to maintain safe staffing levels at Mayo University Hospital is 28.5 but that it currently stands at 15.5 whole-time equivalent (WTE) nurses, a figure disputed by the HSE.
Currently, incomplete rosters, unsafe shifts, and high trolley numbers are placing staff under significant pressure in an unsafe working environment.
INMO Assistant Director of Industrial Relations for the West, Colm Porter, said that members feel recent management actions do not demonstrate a genuine commitment to protecting their safety at work.
Mr Porter highlighted that there is currently a deficit of over 10 WTE nurses in the ED, and that a further 28.5 WTE nurses are needed to meet the safe staffing levels that are outlined in the HSE’s Safe Staffing Framework.
INMO members are disappointed that the situation has come to this, but they feel that the risks being posed to their patients have become too significant, and they feel their concerns are not being taken seriously.
In a statement released today confirming the industrial action, Mr Porter noted that MUH has been consistently overcrowded since January, with over 3,577 patients on trolleys so far this year.
“Attempts to downplay the severity of the situation in Mayo by the Minister for Health and hospital management in recent days are contrary to the very real lived experiences of our members and the patients they are trying to provide safe care to,
“Nurses in Mayo University Hospital’s emergency department are advocating for patients who deserve safe staffing levels. They are now reminding the HSE, as their employer, that they are obligated to provide staff with a healthy and safe workplace. Hospital management have failed to ensure safe levels of nurse staffing for far too long,” he said.
The rest of the statement read as follows:
“Following a balloting process and proceedings at the Workplace Relations Commission to resolve staffing issues in the Mayo University Hospital emergency department, our members feel that recent actions of management do not demonstrate a genuine attempt to protect their safety at work or, indeed, provide safe clinical areas or safe staffing for patients. Regrettably, they are now forced to engage in industrial action in pursuance of safe staffing,
“There is currently a deficit of over 10 WTE nurses in the Emergency Department at Mayo University Hospital, with a further 28.5 WTE nurses required to meet the safe staffing levels outlined in the HSE’s own Safe Staffing Framework for Emergency Departments. Our members are working in a department that is persistently overcrowded and chronically understaffed. Our members are very disappointed that it has come to this, but unfortunately, they feel the risks being posed to patients due to ongoing understaffing problems have become too significant and that their concerns are not being taken seriously.
“It is disappointing that nurses have had to go to such lengths to highlight their concerns for patient safety and their own mental and physical wellbeing. Our members in Mayo are coping with excessive workloads, yet they are still determined to have their concerns heard and to continue advocating on behalf of their patients.”
This article has been funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.