Nurses vote for industrial action at Mayo University Hospital
Nurses working in the Emergency Department at Mayo University Hospital have said they will begin industrial action on November 3.
Nurses at Mayo University Hospital have voted in favour of industrial action, with the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) informing hospital management that nurses working in the Emergency Department at the Castlebar hospital will begin the action on November 3.
It’s part of an ongoing dispute over staffing levels in the emergency department where, according to the INMO, a deficit of 10 whole-time equivalent (WTE) nurses exists.
“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,” said Colm Porter, INMO assistant director of industrial relations for the west.
The union says that a further 28.5 WTE nurses would be needed 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,” said Mr Porter.
