The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has served notice of industrial action on HSE West and North West. The notice follows voting by public health nurse management in Galway over the HSE’s failure to implement recommendations to help ease the “extreme pressure” on staff in the area. INMO Professional and Regulatory Officer David Miskell described the current pressures being experienced in the region as “intolerable”. He stated that patient care is “falling short”, and that the health and safety of INMO members practising in public health in Galway is now “significantly compromised” as a result of the ongoing challenges. “Public health nurse management in Galway are at a juncture now where they feel like they have no other option but to engage in industrial action,” he said.

Mr Miskell compared the Galway catchment of 285,000 people to the national average of 150,000, adding that the region is “unique” in view of its “large geographic area with an urban-rural mix, island populations, and a growing population”.

“Despite local engagement and two conciliation conferences that took place under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission, no meaningful resolution has been reached, with the additional resources required to maintain safe and effective care for the people of Galway not being put in place… HSE West and North West must now urgently and meaningfully engage with the INMO in relation to the matters at the centre of this dispute. The provision of putting all resources that are necessary to provide a safe public health nursing service for the people of Galway must be a priority. If the HSE fails to engage, regrettably this industrial action will escalate over the coming weeks.”

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has announced its intention to ballot members over the HSE’s “baseless recruitment moratorium” and its impact on staffing. The embargo has resulted in more than 2,000 vacancies across the health service, which “has led to further levels of unsafe staffing” across all sectors of the health service, and “is having a detrimental impact on patient care”. The organisation says that “for too long the goodwill of nurses and midwives has been taken for granted”, and that the ongoing situation is “a step too far” which will not be tolerated any longer.

Commenting on the planned ballots, INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said: “Over 2,000 much-needed nursing and midwifery posts have now been effectively abolished by the HSE. This means the safety of our members at work is severely compromised and their ability to provide safe, appropriate, and timely care is not possible. The INMO Executive Council, made up of working nurses and midwives, have considered every possible option but feel strongly that the only response is a strong collective one from members, and that this response must be an industrial relations response… In continuing their moratorium through extremely limiting recruitment caps, the HSE have gone too far and are imposing restrictions so severe, broken staffing agreements, and disregarded the working conditions you now are expected to provide care in. As safety critical professionals, we cannot tolerate this impact on patient and staff safety any longer.”

 INMO members in the public sector will be balloted from 14 October.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has published the results of its 2024 Work and Wellbeing Survey, and its findings show that the vast majority of nurses and midwives are concerned about the ways staff shortages are affecting patient safety. Some 76 per cent of respondents reported issues with staffing levels and skill mix, and 92 per cent of those expressing concern believed that patient safety was at risk. The data also indicates that significant numbers have considered quitting their workplace due to high levels of stress. More than half of respondents said they have felt under pressure from their workplace to work additional hours/shifts, and 15 per cent reported that they worked more than 20 additional unpaid hours per month.

As in previous years, the INMO survey aimed to get a snapshot of the proportion of nurses and midwives who intend to leave their professions, or their workplaces. In response to this, 63 per cent of respondents stated that they had considered leaving their workplace over the last month, and of those, 44.54 per cent said this was mainly due to workplace stress.

“These results very clearly show that nurses and midwives are struggling in today’s health service,” said INMO President Karen McGowan.

Members were also surveyed on issues such as health and wellbeing, and their experiences of long Covid. Responses revealed that more than one-in-five had attended their GP due to work-related stress, and one-in-eight reported they had or previously had long Covid. Over half felt their work was emotionally exhausting to a high or very high degree.

Ms McGowan added: “More than four years on from the start of the Covid pandemic, INMO members are still dealing with the effects in their workplaces, in their practice, and on their own health. Meanwhile the Government has failed to make progress on hospital overcrowding, and conditions for staff and patients in many places has gotten far worse than we could have imagined.

“Not only is this situation not sustainable, but it is painfully clear from these survey results that the Irish health service and its staff are not in a position to endure another crisis. These services and the people working in them are hanging by a thread, and it’s frightening to think what would happen if they had to withstand another serious shock.”