NURSES AT Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe, Co Galway, want a full investigation into how two senior nurse managers were suspended after raising concerns about patient safety.
They were suspended in September and appealed the decision to the Health Service Executive's national hospitals office (NHO). The outcome of their appeal has only been relayed to them in the past week.
The NHO effectively ruled that they should have received a formal written warning rather than being suspended and advised that they should return to work.
The two nurses, however, are on sick leave due to stress as a result of the way the whole matter was handled.
Now nursing colleagues at the hospital have commenced industrial action over the way they were treated and will today stage a lunchtime protest at the hospital gates over the issue.
There are more than 200 nurses in the hospital and the industrial action that has commenced sees them refusing to act up in senior nurse management positions.
Outlining the background to the dispute yesterday the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) said that five of the seven assistant directors of nursing at the hospital registered grievances last March and again in June regarding what, in their view, were "deficiencies in communications and issues regarding the health and safety of patients within the hospital".
When it was clear that their issues had not been addressed they referred their grievance to the hospital's general manager.
In response all five received letters containing an allegation of dysfunctional behaviours within senior nurse management, which they were part of, and requesting them to attend an assessment process with a management consultant on a one-to-one basis. They replied asking precisely what they were being accused of and the terms of reference for the assessment. This request was not dealt with, the INO said.
"The general manager then instructed all five to attend the assessment with the external consultant. There was no elaboration on the allegation or terms of reference," the union added.
All five refused to attend and the first two to refuse were suspended and advised that their refusal was considered by the general manager as serious misconduct.
The matter was referred to their hospital network manager and they were summoned to a disciplinary hearing under stage four of the HSE discipline code, which could lead to dismissal. The original complaint was then upheld.
They appealed to the NHO and it made its decision on Friday November 7th that they should have been dealt with under stage two of the HSE discipline code and advised them to return to work.
"On medical advice they were certified as too stressed to return to work," the INO said.
The HSE West said the nurses had been asked to return to duty on Monday November 10th following the conclusion of the disciplinary procedure.
This was what the INO wanted and it was therefore not clear now what the basis for the INO protest action was.