Concern over cancer patient services

The Irish Cancer Society said today it is "increasingly concerned" about the effect of the nurses dispute on services for cancer patients.

ICS chairman Professor John Armstrong said cancer patients were "incredibly vulnerable" and in need of constant access to nurses to get the results of tests and for information on their treatment plan.

"They are being denied that access because of the dispute," he said. "The situation is likely to worsen considerably for cancer patients when the dispute escalates and we may see surgery and other essential treatment being cancelled."

Nurses today  rejected claims by the Government and health employers that their pay claim can only be dealt with through the State's benchmarking process.  Minister for Health Mary Harney has insisted the current dispute, which saw 40,000 nurses enter their fourth day of a work-to-rule today, can only be resolved through the same industrial relations mechanisms that apply to other professions.

However, in a statement this evening, the Irish Nurses' Organisation said it rejected the assertion that "benchmarking is the only game in town" and that there is no other way to address the "insulting pay anomaly" that has existed for six years.

The INO and its sister union the Psychiatric Nurses' Association (PNA) said there were three ways of determining public sector pay.

For the higher grades in the public service, this was carried out by a review body. The Labour Court could also carry out "parallel benchmarking" and there was also the benchmarking process itself, the unions said.

The unions said that while they had met "a stubborn refusal, from employers, to creatively address this pay anomaly claim", the same employers had agreed interim arrangements on pay with other public service grades.

These included senior health service managers, radiographers, clerical and managerial staff in the Revenue Commissioners, clerical and executive grades in other government departments and also prison officers.

INO General Secretary, Liam Doran said:"It is simply incorrect to say that 'benchmarking is the only game in town'.

"It remains our firm conviction that this pay issue can be addressed, in a like manner as the sample cases attached, without, in any way, dismantling the overall public service pay machinery which now exists," Mr Doran added.

Earlier, the unions accused the Health Service Executive (HSE) of having a "hard neck" to blame nurses for congestion in emergency departments.

HSE hospital networks manager Gerry O'Dwyer said this morning it had been a "significant challenge" in recent days to keep hospital services going and to ensure patient care is not compromised.

"There's been congestion in the emergency departments and again I would ask people to attend their family doctor or the out-of-hours medical service rather than come to one of our emergency departments," Mr O'Dwyer said.

"Yesterday evening, Drogheda hospital was under severe pressure and also Cavan . . . and the Mater hospital was under pressure. Cork University Hospital came under pressure late yesterday evening as well."

Mr Doran later said the HSE had "a hard neck and a short memory" to blame the nurses for the congestion. He said emergency departments had been clogged up for years and that this time last year a national emergency had been declared because there were so many patients on trolleys.

The HSE said this evening that hospital managers had made arrangements to provide cover for "the agreed contingencies".

"Hospital managers are contactable out of hours. Hospital management teams are multi-disciplinary in nature, consisting of medical, nursing and allied health professions. Nurse managers cover our health care facilities on 24 hours per day, seven days per week basis as appropriate and the responsibilities for out of hours services continues to remain with nurse managers as usual," a statement said.

"Local arrangements have been put in place to ensure support for our nurse managers."

The work-to-rule over pay and conditions entered its fourth day today. On Monday, nurses are expected to unveil a series of rolling work stoppages throughout the country from next Wednesday.