INMO members to protest unsafe work conditions outside Connolly Hospital

INMO members in Connolly Hospital will protest outside the hospital today to highlight excessive workloads and consequential increasingly unsafe conditions, the union says.

Nurses say that staff are under increased pressure and patient care is being compromised.

The INMO has engaged with hospital management to find a resolution to this ongoing issue and is not satisfied with the response to the concerns raised.

INMO members are calling on hospital management to restrict services, close beds and wards and divert scheduled care to private hospitals.

“This action needs to be taken to protect standards of care, patients, and staff.

“While a recent recruitment initiative has had some success many of the new recruits will not start until 2022,” it said in a statement.

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 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.

“Today’s protest sends 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.”

A nurse in the hospital, speaking anonymously, said they have “never seen anything like the low morale and exhaustion.

“The waves of COVID were just so taxing and we are now facing huge volumes of patients coupled with staff shortages.

“It’s just not right. We’ve such a brilliant team in the hospital but they are at rock bottom.

“I’m seeing my colleagues leaving or thinking about leaving and this tide has to be turned right now or more staff are going to leave the service.”