Nurses in Longford/Westmeath General Hospital, Mullingar have begun industrial action.
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Two hundred nurses, who are all members of the Irish Nursing Organisation (INO), will confine themselves to their nursing duties and there will be no disruption to patient care. They will, however, be refusing to accommodate extra beds when a ward-bed complement is full.
The issues leading up to this industrial action are:
- Lack of admission and discharge policy
- Health and Safety issues and lack of privacy for patients
- Concerns for welfare of staff working in overcrowded conditions
- Inadequate staffing levels contributing to increased stress levels
- Staff are concerned that the overcrowding is causing staff retention problems.
The nurses voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action following on from what they claim was an inadequate response from management on the issue over the past number of years.
Speaking this afternoon, INO Industrial Relations Officer, Ms Noreen Browne said: "Our members are left with no alternative but to take industrial action on this long standing issue of extra beds and overcrowding".