Nurses seek reduction of services at Connolly hospital due to ‘unsafe conditions’

Nurses want services at Connolly hospital in Dublin to be scaled back due to pressure caused by rising workloads and staff shortages.

They are staging a protest at Connolly hospital in Blanchardstown, Dublin on Monday to highlight what nurses have described as “excessive workloads and consequential increasingly unsafe conditions”.

The nurses who are members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) said they were under increased pressure and that patient care was being compromised.

The union wants management to restrict services at Connolly, to close beds and wards and to divert scheduled care to private hospitals.

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It said such action “needs to be taken to protect standards of care, patients, and staff”.

The INMO said it had engaged with hospital management to find a resolution to this ongoing issue but was not satisfied with the response to the safety concerns raised.

It said while a recent recruitment initiative has had some success, many of the new staff to be taken on would not commence duty until the start of next year.

INMO industrial relations officer Maurice Sheehan said:

“Our members have been through a very challenging time and are heading into winter with an increased workload, and Covid-19 still circulating. Hospital management need to act urgently to keep staff and patients safe. Otherwise, services at the hospital will need to be scaled back to ensure safety for all.”

“From the outset of the pandemic, management at Connolly hospital chose to curtail some of their least essential services, they need to do so again.

He said the protest on Monday was aimed at sending a clear message to hospital management “that staff are not willing to continue providing care in a manner where the health and safety of patients and staff is at risk.”

The RCSI Hospital Group, of which Connolly Hospital forms part, said it was committed to working and engaging with the INMO and its staff in a collaborative manner to address nursing recruitment and retention issues.

“All efforts are being maximised to attract staff to Connolly Hospital through online advertising, international recruitment, and process improvement. This has enhanced Connolly recruitment which has seen a number of new weekly nurse starters in recent months and a pipeline of nursing staff recruitment in progress.

“As of last Friday, 8 October 2021, permanent nursing vacancies in Connolly are at 57.8 Whole-time equivalents . Of these vacancies 46 whole -time equivalents are in recruitment clearance or have start dates finalised with commencement in the next 4-8 weeks.”

The HSE said that in the last five years the number of whole-time equivalent nursing posts had increased by nearly 6,000 or by 15.8 per cent across all grades and disciplines.

“The HSE said it had offered all nurse graduates in Ireland permanent contracts of employment in 2020 and 2021.

“We recruit nursing staff internationally with over 1,000 nurses taking up duty in Ireland this year through the international framework and a further 900 planned for 2022.”