‘I know nurses that drive home crying’: Frontline hospital staff in Limerick continue strike action

HUNDREDS of nurses and midwives are enduring torrential weather conditions in another day of national strike action this Tuesday, as the Government faces increasing pressure over pay, conditions and staffing.

It is the second time in a week that around 40,000 members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) have been deployed to the picket lines nationwide.

As a result of the ongoing dispute between the union and the Government, there are significant disruptions to healthcare services in Limerick and nationwide.

Patients are advised that local injury units at St John’s Hospital, Ennis and Nenagh are closed, and are urged to only attend the emergency department in serious cases.

Seamus Keogh, a Dooradoyle resident who has been a nurse for 20 years, said that none of them want to be staging these protests.

“Patients need to be looked after. We need to put the patients first. Secondly, we are not getting paid for this. No one wants that. Thirdly, the weather, it’s absolutely shocking. But the resolve is there and a bit of rain won’t deter us anyway,” he told the Limerick Leader during a heavy spell of rainfall at University Hospital Limerick. 

Marie Byrne and Maura Keating who have been nurses since 1988 and 1992 say conditions have hit “an all time low” @Limerick_Leader pic.twitter.com/3JxaZuZ0ao

— Fintan Walsh (@FintanYTWalsh) February 5, 2019

INMO members are also protesting at Croom Orthopaedic Hospital, St John's Hospital, University Maternity Hospital Limerick and various primary care centres, including the new Barrack View centre in the city. 

He said that burnout and stress are such “massive” issues that there are nurses driving home and driving to work “crying”.

“I know of nurses that drive home in the evening crying. I know nurses that have drove in the morning crying, especially those who have kids.”

He said his message to the Government is that they need to engage in “meaningful discussions” around pay and conditions in the hospitals.

“I go up to the wards every day, giving out medication for procedures and patients, and I can see how hard it is. And to be quite frank, I am glad when I am walking out of it and back to my own area. I’d say I would probably leave nursing if I was in that situation.

“When I started in the hospital, I worked in one of the wards. I was very happy there, to be honest with you. Staffing was at a really, really good level. You had one nurse to two patients, and that never changed. Unlike the wards when you could have one to ten, one to fifteen, or possibly even more,” Mr Keogh explained.

Galbally woman Marie Byrne, who has been a nurse since 1988, said the conditions have “hit an all-time low”.

Her colleague Maura Keating, an experienced nurse since 1992, said she is joining the protests for pay parity, pay restoration, retention and recruitment of staff and an improvement in overall working conditions.

Hope for a resolution in the dispute appeared to dissipate following a joint statement by Minister for Health Simon Harris and Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe.

Noting the disappointment by the members, the Ministers stated that the Government has “always listened to the concerns expressed by nurses” in relation to their working conditions and job satisfaction.

They added that they “continue to be willing to engage in talks on the range of workplace related issues other than pay to try to resolve the dispute”.

However, within hours of this statement, INMO secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha said that this was “spin masquerading as substance”.

“Government by press release is unfair and confusing to patients and insulting to nurses and midwives on the picket lines,” she said.

A spokesperson for the UL Hospitals Group said that a small number of outpatient appointments will go ahead this Tuesday.

However, injury units at St John’s Hospital, Ennis and Nenagh hospitals remain closed.

“UL Hospitals continues to work with the INMO to secure the safest possible level of nursing and midwifery cover in our hospitals during the period of the strike and contingency arrangements are being finalised.”

The UL Hospitals Group is encouraging patients to attend the emergency department if seriously injured or ill or worried if your life is at risk.

A third day of strike action is scheduled for this Thursday. If discussions continue to breakdown between the union and the Government, there will be three consecutive days of strike action next week, on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.