Nurses working in both St Patrick’s Hospital Cashel and St Anthony’s Unit Clonmel have voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action. The manner of the industrial action is yet to be decided, but it may include a full withdrawal of nurses from these sites unless senior HSE officials in Community Healthcare Organisation Area 5 take seriously the nurse vacancies and put an actionable plan in place to alleviate risks for all the residents.
The INMO has, as previously reported, attended meetings in recent months where nurses detailed to management their inability to provide acceptable standards of care to vulnerable patients and pleaded for additional nurses.
Speaking yesterday (06/06/18), INMO Industrial Relations Officer, Mary Fogarty said:
“INMO members are forced into this dispute which is not for themselves, but for their patient population who are elderly, frail and vulnerable. Nurses have a duty to advocate to the HSE on their behalf. The current nurse staffing levels are inadequate across all shifts. When we meet HSE officials tomorrow we will expect an action plan for the filling of all nursing vacancies. A failure to provide such a plan will make industrial action inevitable.”
