NURSES AT the five acute hospitals in the northeast will be balloted on industrial action in coming weeks unless new rosters to reduce their working hours are implemented, the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) has said.
INO general secretary Liam Doran said yesterday the Government's commitment to reduce the working week of nurses from 39 hours to 37½ hours by June 1st last had now been honoured in 75 per cent of cases. Progress had been made in all regions, except in the northeast, he said.
"The northeast is undoubtedly the most problematic area. It's the only area where no acute hospital at all has introduced the reduced working week," he added.
Up to 8,000 nurses nationwide still have to have their hours reduced, he said. These include nurses at University College Hospital Galway and Merlin Park Regional Hospital Galway, at Cork University Hospital and Kerry General Hospital, but Mr Doran said progress was being made in these cases.
He said a reason for the lack of progress in the northeast was regional management appeared to be trying at the same time to address staffing shortages that had nothing to do with the reduction in nurses' working hours. Some of these shortages, he said, resulted from the HSE's own recruitment embargo last year. "Our belief is management in the region have to sort out those issues with HSE corporate management and not use our members as the meat in the sandwich," he said.
Nurses at Cavan General Hospital protested outside the hospital at lunchtime yesterday over the failure to reduce their hours. A ballot of nurses working at Monaghan General Hospital has already been arranged.
Joe Hoolan, INO industrial relations officer for Cavan hospital, said the failure of local and regional management to implement the nurses' entitlement was causing anger and frustration among members.
The HSE North East said management in Cavan hospital are committed to introducing the 37½ hour working week for nurses in the shortest possible timeframe. It said "a significant amount of work has been done" on new rosters to implement the change but this had to be done on a cost neutral basis.
"Management in Cavan general had been in discussion with representatives from the Ministers' office, with HSE senior human resource personnel and industrial relations personnel nationally. Proposals to implement the 37.5 hour working week which were submitted nationally have not been approved. The LRC will now visit the area to offer assistance. Management in Cavan are committed to introducing the 37.5 hour working week roster in the shortest timeframe possible pending outcome of these discussions," it said.
The shorter working week for nurses was agreed as part of the deal to end the seven week nurses dispute in April-May 2007. Mr Doran warned yesterday that when agreement is reached on the reduction of nurses' hours in the northeast, each nurse will be owed 1½ hours for every week worked since June 1st.