Union says move is in response to low and unsafe staffing levels, with the hospital having a shortfall of 30 nurses
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has begun a ballot of its members in Mayo University Hospital this week in response to what it describes as dangerous staffing shortfalls in the hospital.
The union has criticised the HSE for failing to implement the Safe Staffing Framework, which sets out the evidence-based minimum staffing levels required for safe patient care, and is calling for a significant number of additional funded positions to be added in the Emergency Department to meet these minimum levels.
In a recent visit to the hospital, INMO general secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said the site was short 30 nursing staff due to delays in the approval of new recruits.
The ballot for industrial action is open to members in Emergency Department A, Emergency Department B, the Medical Assessment Unit, and the Escalation Team, representing the wider unscheduled care directorate of the hospital.
“This ballot comes at the end of a long process in which we have tried to resolve the ongoing staffing issues with management in the hospital,” said INMO assistant director of industrial relations for the area, Colm Porter.
“Unfortunately the staffing proposals made by management did not meet the minimum level required to maintain the safety of staff and patients in the emergency department.
“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.
“Our members have lost confidence in the hospital’s ability to address these concerns through normal engagement channels, and have now been left with no option but to escalate the matter.
“Long-term measures are required to address what has become a chronic staffing shortfall, which our members have been documenting and reporting for two years without an adequate response from their employer.
“Nurses in the hospital are calling for additional funded positions to bring staffing to a minimally safe level in the department and address what they consider is an unacceptable level of risk to their patients.”
HSE West and North West has been contacted for comment.
